Newpoer-based Monmouthshire Building Society has strengthened its board with the appointment of a new non-executive director Nina Hingorani-Crain.

Ms Hingorani-Crain has almost 20 years’ experience in the financial services sector and has spent time living and working in France, South Africa, Nigeria and the Middle East.

After graduating from King’s College London with an LLB Honours degree, and from the Sorbonne Paris with the French equivalent, she qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

Nina then spent five years working for Ernst & Young in their corporate finance practice, where a number of her clients were building societies, before being recruited to join the UK Financial Services Authority.

In her 10 years working with the regulator she undertook a variety of roles, initially in international strategy representing the FSA globally alongside the IMF and World Bank. This was followed by management positions as the Chairman’s Principal Private Secretary and subsequently as Chief of Staff leading the demerger of the FSA and the creation of the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

While at the FCA, Ms Hingorani-Crain also undertook a six-month strategic secondment to Age UK to inform the regulator’s strategy of placing consumer needs at the heart of its mandate. She brings a wide range of knowledge in conduct and consumer issues to the board and combines her non-executive responsibilities with charitable work focused on education and young people.

Nina said: “I am delighted to embark on this new challenge with Monmouthshire Building Society.

"Its recent achievement of £1bn in assets, coupled with its award-winning programme of community support, demonstrate the values of this Newport-based building society.

"I am a firm believer in the need for financial services firms that can understand and serve the needs of a diverse customer base. In my view mutual building societies like the Monmouthshire have an essential, and increasingly important, role to play in the sector today.

“I’m excited to be able to bring my experience to the board, and will strive to ensure the ongoing success of this respected mutual financial institution which was established almost 150 years ago to meet the needs of the local people and takes pride in continuing to do so today.”

MBS chairman Haydn Warman said: "We are delighted to appoint Nina to the society’s board of directors. Nina’s highly-successful career, including a number of roles with the former Financial Services Authority, will serve to complement the skills of our current board members, and we stand to benefit enormously from her extensive strategic knowledge.”

This year, the Newport-based mutual society announced an impressive set of annual results. In the 12-months to April 30, 2015, it experienced seven per cent growth, while profit after tax reached £5.1m.