Adyen names former Klarna finance chief Niclas Neglen as its next CFO
Neglen is set to start February 1, 2027, pending Dutch central bank and shareholder approval; interim CFO Hwa Tsao stays on until then.
By Tech CEO Daily Staff, Newsroom
· 2 min read
The news
Dutch payments company Adyen said on September 22 it has nominated Niclas Neglen, most recently chief financial officer of Klarna, as its next CFO. He is due to start on February 1, 2027, and will join the management board, subject to approval by the Dutch Central Bank and by shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting.
Hwa Tsao will remain interim CFO until then and will afterward return to his role as senior vice president of group finance, Adyen said. The company added that its financial objectives are unchanged.
Before Klarna, which he joined in 2021, Neglen was CFO and COO for HSBC’s private bank in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and spent 13 years in senior finance roles at General Electric. Co-CEO Pieter van der Does said Neglen’s experience “lines up exactly with where Adyen is in its growth journey.”
Neglen left Klarna in August, Payments Dive reported, around the time the buy now, pay later company cut its gross merchandise volume guidance to $149 billion to $151 billion from a prior projection above $155 billion. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Ramsey El Assal called the five-month gap before Neglen starts “somewhat unorthodox,” the publication said.
The numbers
- Start date
- Feb. 1, 2027
- Years at GE
- 13
Why CEOs should care
Adyen processes payments for many large global merchants, so continuity in its finance leadership matters to customers negotiating multi-year pricing and to partners watching its investment plans. The company’s statement that its financial objectives are unchanged suggests no near-term shift in strategy, but merchants should expect a new CFO to review pricing and cost discipline once he arrives.
The move also shows senior fintech talent moving between listed payments firms. For boards hiring finance leaders, experience at a company going through a public-market reset like Klarna’s is now a credential, not a warning sign.
The bigger picture
Klarna has had a difficult stretch as a public company, with Payments Dive reporting its shares down about 70% since its IPO. Adyen, by contrast, is hiring into a business it describes as still having room to grow, and Neglen’s mix of bank, industrial and fintech experience fits a company selling to large enterprise merchants.
What's next
Watch for the extraordinary general meeting date and the Dutch Central Bank’s approval, both needed before Neglen can take the role.
Sources
- PrimaryNiclas Neglen to join Adyen as new Chief Financial Officer— Adyen
- ReportAdyen snaps up Klarna CFO— Payments Dive
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