Veikkaus confirms Sippel as new financial chief

Finnish gambling monopoly Veikkaus has appointed Regina Sippel as its new chief financial officer and announced an organisational restructuring that sees a number of executives take on additional duties.

Sippel will begin the role on September 1, joining Veikkuas from travel company Thomas Cook, where she had been serving as group CFO of its Northern Europe division.

At Veikkuas, Sippel will take over the management of the operator’s finance, planning and services function. It is unclear whether her predecessor Maija Hjelt, who has been with the company for decades, will depart or move to a new role.

Sippel's appointment comes amid a wider revamp of the operator's organisational structure, which has resulted in changes to a number of key executives' responsibilities.

For two, there will be no changes. Pekka Ilmivalta will continue in her role as senior vice president of legal affairs and corporate social responsibility, while Ari Aarnihuhta will remain as senior vice president and chief information officer in charge of the ICT function.

Jari Heino, meanwhile, will continue as senior vice president of channels and sales, but also assume responsibility for retail sales. 

Elsewhere, director of strategy and advocacy Jarmo Kumpulainen will now add corporate social responsibility matters to his duties, while Anna Segercrantz will manage procurement in addition to premises.

In addition, Joni Hovi, who worked for Veikkaus for a decade until 2013, will return to the business as vice president of customer relations management. He previously held a number of advisory and business development roles, before departing for positions at Sportradar and Kambi, where he served as executive director of the supplier's state lottery business.