Finance and life insurance experts join FRC board
Former bosses of BUPA and Swiss Re appointed to accounting watchdog board
JOHN COOMBER, the former chief executive of reinsurance giant Swiss Re, has joined the FRC board alongside experienced audit committee chair and finance director Ray King.
The pair will join the accounting watchdog’s codes and standards committee with effect from 23 July and King will chair the FRC’s audit and assurance council from the same date.
King chairs the audit & risk committees at Saga, a non exec and chair of the audit committees at Rothesay Life and Infinis Energy; he also sits as a reporting panel member at the Competition and Markets Authority.
He is the former chief executive of BUPA and has held a number of senior finance positions, including as group finance director of BUPA, Southern Water, director of group finance and control of Diageo/Guinness and as a controller with ICI.
Coomber retired recently as CEO of Pension Insurance Corporation and will continue as a non-executive. He joined Swiss Re in the UK in 1973 and later led the life division and, in 1993, was made head of the UK operations. He became a member of the executive committee in 2000 and was Swiss Re’s chief executive officer from 2003 to 2005.
Commenting on the appointments, FRC chairman Sir Win Bischoff said:
“I am delighted to welcome Ray King and John Coomber to the FRC board. Ray’s wide knowledge of corporate reporting within a number of large organisations, as well as listed entities outside the FTSE 100 and FTSE 350 and his experience as a board member on audit committees will lend highly valuable insights to the FRC’s work on corporate governance and audit regulation.
“John’s significant international experience and actuarial background will contribute to the FRC’s strategy in these areas.”
John Stewart will step down from the FRC board with effect from 1 July.