Santander Bank has appointed David Harnisch to head of portfolio management, underwriting and strategy in its Commercial Banking division. In this new role, Harnisch oversees all underwriting, portfolio management, and business strategy for the Bank’s Commercial businesses.

Harnisch’s 25 years of experience and expertise in credit risk, portfolio management, asset management and client coverage will serve Santander well as it enhances its capabilities to better serve its Commercial Banking customers. A proven leader, Harnisch can create high-performing, ‘fit for purpose’ origination, execution and portfolio management functions for complex businesses. He will play an integral role as Santander continues to grow and expand its Commercial Bank franchise.

Harnisch joins Santander from Citizens Financial Group where he was a member of the Bank’s executive leadership group and head of commercial banking, underwriting and portfolio management. In this role, he was responsible for a $50 billion loan portfolio consisting of the asset finance, business capital, commercial real estate, leveraged finance, middle market, mid-corporate, industry vertical, specialty finance, and private equity banking businesses. Prior to Citizens, he was managing director at CIT Group, Inc. where he built out three new businesses – Sponsor Finance, CIT Asset Management LLC, a bank loan asset management platform, and CIT Problem Loan Management, a new centralized workout group.

Harnisch earned a B.A. in political science from Boston College and an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business.