McFarlane to quit Oz for chair at Aviva

 

Aviva has confirmed that John McFarlane, the former boss of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), is to succeed Lord Sharman as chairman next June.

The 64-year-old Scottish-orn financial services veteran will give up his position on the board of the Royal Bank of Scotland next March and move back from Australia to the UK to take up his new job.

His salary has not been disclosed. Sharman, 68, who has been chairman since January 2006, was paid £521,000 last year.

Sir Richard Broadbent had been seen as key contender for the job until he was appointed as the next chairman of Tesco.

McFarlane started at Ford before moving into the banking industry in 1975. He was chief executive of ANZ for a decade.

His appointment to Aviva (down 7.1p to 425.1p) comes at a time of change at Aviva. UK chief executive Mark Hodges quit this month to join insurance broker Towergate. He had been seen as a possible successor to Aviva's chief executive Andrew Moss.