Spain-based Nueva Pescanova Group has appointed Jose Maria Benavent to serve as the company's executive chairman.

Benavent has served as Pescanova's director and member of its audit, control and finance committee since June 2019.

He started his career in 1989 in the Bank of Spain. Since 1994 he has held management positions at various financial institutions in Spain. He has previously served as headquarters risk officer for Caixabank, and also as group finance director of cable company Euskaltel.

Since 2018, Benavent has served as an independent member of the board of directors of the Spanish bank Abanca and as a member of its audit and risk committee.

Earlier in March Abanca gained control of Nueva Pescanova by acquiring the shares of Banco Sabadell (24.5 percent) and Caixabank (15.3 percent), two of the banks that formed the core of the so-called G7 that allowed the restructuring of the seafood giant in 2015.

The company is working to consolidate its fishing, aquaculture, processing and commercial departments, it said in an announcement Monday.

The company's board of directors voted unanimously to elect Benavent along with re-electing Ignacio Gonzalez as Pescanova's managing director. Gonzalez has been in the role since 2016.

The company's board of directors consists of five members, with Javier Carral, Jose Fafian and Marco Nieto completing the corporate governance body.