Paul von Saarn
Paul von Saarn is responsible for risk management and credit at First West. Prior to his First West appointment, Paul held a number of senior management positions at Envision Financial including assistant vice-president, credit, vice-president, credit and operations and vice-president, credit and leasing.
Before joining Envision in 1995, Paul served as president of G.V. Mercantile Corporation and Westcoast Group of Companies and also spent seven years at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as a commercial account manager.
Originally from Germany, Paul moved to the Lower Mainland in 1980. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration from the University of British Columbia, and is also a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers.
Featured Posts
How First West's unique model enables the business to focus on the member.
Risk Management. For most, it sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry. And you can bet you won’t ever find it trending on Twitter. Ever.
And because risk management is likely to become a hot topic only when something goes terribly wrong (sub-prime lending crisis, Occupy Wallstreet, anyone?), it sometimes has a stigma attached to it.
“When you talk risk...
Helping neighbours out during hard times is part of what it means to be a local credit union
October 2008. It’s still pretty fresh in everyone’s memory, largely because the effects of the market meltdown fuelled by massive high-risk sub-prime lending practices of major financial institutions continue to be felt, especially in the United States and Europe. Though Canada was not hit nearly as hard, many Canadians found themselves unemployed or saw their...
“Treat people fairly and give people the right opportunities.” It’s a recurring phrase for Paul von Saarn. He wants to bring out the best in people and situations, and it’s what he does everyday in his roles as senior vice-president of enterprise risk management and chief credit officer at First West. If he wasn’t helping fund today’s go-getters and entrepreneurs in B.C., he’d likely be in Ghana, assisting credit unions there like he did as a mentor...
