Bank Aston has appointed Claire Whittet and Roy McGregor as its first Non-Executive Directors (NEDs).
The new Guernsey-based bank for offshore trustees, investment funds and family offices launched in June 2025 and is currently building out its products and services and is set to onboard customers in the first half of 2026.
Claire Whittet is the former co-head of Rothschild & Co Bank International in Guernsey, where she spent 13 years, having previously held senior roles at the Bank of Bermuda and Bank of Scotland. Whittet has sat on several boards in Guernsey including the boards of LSE investment companies, private equity firms and Rothschild & Co Bank International.
Roy McGregor is a former CEO of Credit Suisse AG in the Channel Islands, a position he held for a decade before leaving the company in 2016. He is currently President of the Guernsey Tax Tribunal and holds a number of NED roles in the financial industry, including Imperium Group Holdings and several banking and financial services firms across the UK, the Islands and Gibraltar.
Whittet said: “Offshore banking has long needed a new player. Bank Aston is building an offer that I have no doubt will disrupt the tired status quo currently serving the offshore community.
“In my conversations with the leadership team, I know that Bank Aston is taking regulatory responsibilities and risk extremely seriously and I am looking forward to guiding that area of the business in the coming years.”
McGregor added: “Having been part of the offshore banking community for decades there is a considerable opportunity for a bank that treats trustees, funds and family offices as its priority, rather than a ‘nice to have’.
“I have been taken by the bank’s understanding of its customer base and the pain points those customers have with traditional banking offers. The size of the market is huge and so is Bank Aston’s potential.”
Kevin Brown, Bank Aston’s chairman and former senior independent director and risk committee member at the Bank of England, said Whittet and McGregor’s expertise were a good fit.
“Roy comes to us with a very strong governance experience on the island, his role in fiduciary and other financial institutions is well known and respected by the GFSC and the financial community here,” he said.
“That fits extremely well with Claire, whose focus is on the audit and risk side from decades with major banks.”
“The Guernsey regulator has been very supportive of Bank Aston over the past couple of years as we’ve progressed – but also very clear about what it requires of its financial community. Roy and Claire will help keep a regulator-like eye on what is the first bank on the island for thirty years.”
