The latest decision taken by the supervisory board comes after Josef Gröblacher was appointed to the management in July. Like Locke he still needs to get approval from the ECB.

The pair will join CEO Robert Senica and board member Sabina Župec Kranjc to form a four-strong management.

In announcing its decision on Tuesday, the supervisory board said it believed Locke's knowledge, skills and experience would significantly contribute to the further development of NKBM and its group.

According to a release from NKBM, Locke has more than 20 years of management and advisory experience in banking, especially in risk management and management of non-performing loans in Central and South East Europe.

He has been a leading management team member in a number of bank transformation programmes, with specific emphasis on credit risk, non-performing loans management and data integration.

He has served as the chief risk officer of Banca Comerciala Romana, a Romanian bank that is member of the Erste Group, and held management board positions in three of the Central European subsidiaries of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, among other things.

NKBM was acquired last year by US private equity fund Apollo and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The purchase money of EUR 250m was transferred in April, when the new owners took over.