Chief Financial Officer

The CFO is the single finance leader for the CST and CSV portfolios. The role owns the integrity of financial reporting, regulatory compliance and capital discipline across every entity, and turns entity-level numbers into decisions for the two Group CEOs.

The CFO leads the embedded Financial Controllers and Business Partners as one finance team. The role is the bridge between entity operations and the Group finance architecture run by the ED Finance, ensuring consistent policies, timely closes, clean audits and reliable consolidation into CapitalSage Holdings.

Scope of entities

The role covers six businesses under CST and two businesses, IMTO and crypto asset management, through five legal entities under CSV. Regulators listed are the primary supervisors; the CFO confirms the full license register on appointment.

Key responsibilities

1. Finance leadership and team management

• Lead the embedded Financial Controllers and Business Partners as one CST/CSV finance function: set objectives, review performance, and drive development and succession.
• Define the finance operating model for the portfolio — roles, delegation of authority, segregation of duties and escalation routes.
• Identify capability gaps in each entity and plan to hire, outsourcing or shared-service support with the ED Finance.
• Embed Group finance policies, chart of accounts and reporting calendar across all entities.

2. Financial accounting and reporting

• Own the accuracy and timeliness of management and statutory accounts for all CST and CSV entities.
• Ensure compliance with IFRS and local GAAP where required (FRS 102 in the UK, ASPE/IFRS in Canada, US GAAP where applicable).
• Deliver monthly management packs to both Group CEOs and the ED Finance: P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, KPIs and variance commentary.
• Prepare consolidated CST and CSV reporting packs, and support consolidation into CapitalSage Holdings and JV Mauritius International Ltd.
• Manage intercompany balances, transfer pricing documentation, and eliminations across the portfolio.
• Maintain the fixed asset register, revenue recognition policies and expected credit loss (IFRS 9) models for the lending entities.

3. Month-end, quarter-end and year-end closing

• Run a standardised close calendar across all entities, targeting a working-day-5 management close.
• Enforce balance sheet reconciliations, suspense and settlement account clearing, and nostro/wallet reconciliations for payment and IMTO businesses.
• Review accruals, provisions, loan-loss provisioning and FX revaluation before sign-off.
• Lead the year-end close and the hand-over of audit-ready trial balances.

4. Regulatory reporting and compliance

• Ensure complete, accurate and on-time regulatory returns for every licence, including CBN returns for the microfinance bank, PSSP and IMTO; Central Bank of The Gambia returns; SEC Nigeria filings; FCA returns in the UK; FINTRAC and FinCEN obligations; and VARA reporting in Dubai.
• Monitor capital adequacy, liquidity ratios, minimum capital, safeguarding and prudential limits; escalate early on any projected breach.
• Maintain a regulatory calendar and a licence register covering every filing, renewal and capital requirement.
• Work with Compliance and MLROs on AML/CFT reporting obligations that have a finance dimension (safeguarding, transaction reporting, client money).
• Act as finance lead in regulatory examinations, licence applications and change-of-control filings.

5. Statutory audit and tax

• Plan and coordinate statutory audits for all entities, aligned to the Group audit timetable and auditor.
• Deliver clean, timely audits with no material adjustments; track and close management letter points.
• Coordinate regulator-mandated audits (e.g. safeguarding audits, prudential returns attestations).
• Oversee corporate tax, VAT/GST/sales tax, withholding tax and transfer pricing compliance in each jurisdiction with tax advisers.
• Support internal audit and the Group internal control transition; own remediation of finance-related findings.

6. Treasury coordination

• Coordinate entity cash positions, 13-week cash forecasts and liquidity planning with Group Treasury.
• Oversee pre-funding, float and settlement liquidity for the IMTO and payment businesses across currencies and corridors.
• Manage banking relationships, correspondent and settlement accounts, and account mandates at entity level.
• Apply the Group FX risk policy to entity exposures (NGN, GMD, GBP, CAD, USD, AED and digital assets).
• Monitor funding lines, covenants and capital injections; prepare capital calls and repatriation plans for approval.
• Ensure segregation of customer funds, safeguarding and client money from operating cash.

7. Business partnering

• Act as the strategic finance partner to both Group CEOs and the entity MDs.
• Translate unit economics — cost per transaction, take rate, net interest margin, cost of risk, AUM fees — into commercial decisions.
• Challenge and support pricing, product launches, corridor expansion and partnership deals with financial analysis.
• Lead the annual budget and rolling forecasts for CST and CSV, aligned with the Group budget process.
• Run monthly performance reviews with each entity, tracking actions to closure.

8. Investment analysis and capital allocation

• Build and review business cases, valuations and financial models for new businesses, licences, acquisitions and disposals.
• Support capital raising, investor reporting and lender requirements (including DFIs) with the ED Finance.
• Lead financial due diligence and post-acquisition integration for fintech and financial-services targets.
• Track return on capital by entity and recommend reallocation of capital to the Group CEOs.

9. Governance, controls and risk

• Maintain a documented internal control framework covering payments, lending, settlement and digital-asset custody.
• Enforce the delegation of authority matrix and dual-control payment approval.
• Report finance matters to entity boards, audit committees and risk committees.
• Work with Risk on credit, liquidity, operational and fraud risk with financial impact.

10. Systems, data and process improvement

• Drive standardisation of ERP, core banking and payment-ledger integration across entities.
• Automate reconciliations, reporting and consolidation where possible.
• Ensure a single source of truth for financial and regulatory data, with clear data ownership.

Qualifications, experience and competencies

Qualifications

• Chartered accountant (ACA, ACCA, CPA, ICAN or equivalent) — essential.
• MBA, CFA or a banking / treasury qualification — desirable.

Experience

• 15+ years in finance, with at least 5 years as CFO, Finance Director or Head of Finance in a regulated financial-services group.
• Hands-on experience with microfinance or commercial banking, payments (PSSP/PSP) or remittance (IMTO/MTO) businesses.
• Proven record with CBN regulatory reporting; exposure to FCA, FINTRAC/FinCEN or VARA regimes is a strong advantage.
• Multi-entity, multi-currency consolidation under IFRS, with Big Four audit relationships.
• Experience managing finance teams remotely across several countries.
• Exposure to fintech, digital assets or asset management — desirable.

Competencies

• Strong technical accounting: IFRS 9, IFRS 15, IFRS 10 and IFRS 16.
• Regulatory and prudential judgement — capital, liquidity and safeguarding.
• Commercial acumen and the confidence to challenge CEOs and MDs.
• Clear communicator to boards, regulators, auditors and investors.
• High integrity, sound judgement and comfort with matrix reporting.
• Systems-minded: ERP, core banking and ledger automation.