Ian Smith
Chief Executive Officer
BMW Group Financial Services NA
Ian is an experienced and successful Senior Executive with over 20 years experience of leading organizations and businesses in five different countries; Brazil, Canada, Germany, USA and UK. Enthused about driving change to improve business performance and the customer experience through business transformation. An ethical and principled based leader with a passion for developing leaders and people.
Since joining BMW Group in Canada in 1999, Ian has held a number of Senior Executive positions. He is currently the President & CEO BMW Group Financial Services USA and Region America’s which is responsible for the North, Central and South America markets with a regional asset portfolio of over $50 billion. Ian has been responsible as the CEO and head of BMW Group Financial Services in four markets and has spent time in the Munich BMW Headquarters where he was responsible for the global business development and business strategy for the Financial Services business.
Jorge Bautista
Vice President, Used Car Business
BMW Group Financial Services NA
Originally from Madrid, Spain, Jorge joined the BMW Group in September 2011 via the merger of ING Car Lease and Alphabet, becoming the CEO Alphabet Spain. In this position he completed the merger in 9 months, including the carve out of BMW Financial Services Spain, and led the company successfully through the global financial crisis, that hit the country severely. In 2015, after transitioning for a few months to the position of International Project Director of a strategic project related to the standardization of the sales model of Alphabet, implemented in all 13 countries, Jorge took his first international assignment as CEO Alphabet Netherlands, based in Breda, The Netherlands, a country considered the cradle of vehicle leasing in Europe with a similar leasing penetration and maturity level than the US. During these two and a half years, Jorge gave a new strategic direction and led the cultural transformation of the third most important leasing company in The Netherlands, being also the third most important subsidiary of Alphabet with more than 500 employees.
In his role of Vice President Used Car Business, Jorge leads a recently created team that is excited about the opportunity to remarket a record number of BMWs, MINIs, and Rolls Royce vehicles. Apart from a higher focus, structure and alignment between the Wholesale and Retail areas, the new organization has an increased focus on Data Analytics, Price Optimization and Channel Management to improve the results of pre-owned sales within the franchise and independent dealer networks.
Neal Crouch
Vice President and Chief Risk Officer
BMW Group Financial Services NA
Neal Crouch, Chief Risk Officer of BMW Financial Services NA, LLC. has over 20 years of financial services experience within the captive lending business. His primary focus has been on Finance, Risk and New Business Development. He began his career with BMW Financial Services in 1994 as an Accounting Clerk and quickly developed his wealth of knowledge on all aspects of accounting and reporting in a variety of positions in Ohio and then relocated to our New Jersey office in 2000. Neal has held several positions in NJ including Financial Planning Manager, Latin American Project Manager, General Manager, Regional Finance and Business Development, and his most recent role as General Manager, Controlling and Reporting. His vast experiences across the Americas region provides consistent value to BMW Financial Services NA, LLC and the BMW Group.
Phil Masi
President and CEO
BMW Bank
Phil Masi is the President and CEO of BMW Bank of North America, a subsidiary of BMW Group Financial Services. Phil has 13 years of experience with BMW Group Financial Services, beginning his career with BMW Group Financial Services in 2005 as General Manager, Risk Management. In 2011, he was promoted to Chief Risk Officer for SF2-US, and subsequently assumed his current role as President of BMW Bank in March 2016. Prior to joining BMW Group Financial Services, Phil held a variety of positions at Volvo Finance North America, including Chief Financial Officer from 2000 to 2005. Phil is a CPA and began his career with the audit team at PwC, and later held several positions with the PepsiCo International Financial Controlling teams. Phil has a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Manhattan College and his Master’s degree in Business Administration from Pace University.
Claudia Latsch-Imasuen
General Manager, IT Financial Services
BMW Group Financial Services NA
Claudia Latsch-Imasuen was appointed IT Director for BMW Financial Services for the Americas Region September 1, 2016. She leads the IT team of ~75 employees providing IT Services with an annual volume of approx. $50 Mio. USD. Claudia’s team delivers IT products and services to customers and process partners throughout the entire life cycle. This includes the delivery and operations of IT products and applications as well as the accountability for any security and compliance topics. Her passion is with the Agile Transformation of the team and the opportunities within IT to enable customers and process partners with innovation and new technologies.
Claudia joined the BMW Group in Munich 17 year ago. She has been in very diverse roles and multiple divisions of the company. She started her career as an In-house Consultant, moving on to Aftersales business, Controlling and IT. Before her assignment at BMW Financial Services she was responsible for IT planning and steering for the Americas Region located at the BMW Manufacturing Plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Paula Goble
Chief Compliance Officer
BMW Group Financial Services NA
Paula began her career with BMW Financial Services in 1994 as Corporate Counsel. In 1998, she transitioned from the Legal Department to Operations as the Asset Recovery Manager. Later that same year, she moved into the role of General Manager, Collections and Account Management. In 2001, Paula transitioned into the role of General Manager, Retailer Services, and in 2006 she accepted the position as General Manager, Customer Interaction Services. In 2016 she moved to the Corporate Compliance Department and is currently in the role as the Chief Compliance Officer.
Paula graduated with her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice and her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Wheeling College and received her Juris Doctor from Capital University Law School.
Robert Lurz
Vice President, Operations of North America and COO
BMW Group Financial Services, NA
Robert brings with him over 20 years of experience with the BMW Group, joining as a Credit Analyst and Sales Manager in Fleet Business for Financial Services Munich in 1987. Robert left the BMW Group to gain experience in the non-captive industry in Retail and Fleet Management business, taking a position with ALD Automotive/ Deutsche Bank as the Head of Branch Munich in 1991. Robert returned to the BMW Group in September 1997 as the Head of Sales at BMW Bank in Munich and was promoted to CEO of BMW Financial Services Belgium two years later. Robert held the CEO role in Alphabet Fleet Management Germany and then served as the head of several corporate functions utilizing his experience in SF-HQ as Head of Business Lines responsible for Group Retail and Commercial Finance, Marketing and Strategic Planning. Robert moved to Canada in 2011 in his current role.