Resolution taps ex-Stan Chart boss to be chair
FORMER Standard Chartered chief executive Sir Malcolm Williamson is set to become chairman of insurance buy-out vehicle Resolution, it was announced yesterday.
Williamson, 73, will succeed Mike Biggs, who is stepping down as part of a plan to streamline the complicated executive structure at the FTSE 100 group, which was founded by industry pioneer Clive Cowdery in 2008.
“Sir Malcolm’s experience as a chairman, as well as his understanding of the Group’s operations, its people and its regulatory and governance framework, will equip him well to lead the company in the future,” Biggs said of his successor.
Williamson has been chairman of Resolution’s Friends Life subsidiary since February 2010 and will take up his new position when the two boards are merged in March, subject to shareholder approval.
He will be tasked with guiding a company that last year abandoned its original business plan – buying struggling UK life insurers and combining them into a more profitable whole – due to the high cost of acquisitions in the current financial climate. Instead Resolution has said it will focus on running its existing businesses.
Williamson began his career with Barclays in 1957 before leaving in 1985 to join the Post Office. He later served as chief executive of Standard Chartered, and card provider Visa, as well as chairman of Clydesdale Bank.