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| New Zurich Chairman de Swaan |
By Mark E. Ruquet
In the wake of controversy surrounding the death of one of
its chief executives, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. has named Tom de Swaan chairman
and Fred Kindle its vice chairman.
The move comes almost two weeks after the resignation of Group
Chairman Josef Ackermann. He was named in a suicide note left by Chief
Financial Officer Pierre Wauthier who allegedly implied the chairman placed
extreme pressure on him.
Executives at Zurich have gone out of their way to assure
investors that the company is financially sound and the sad incident is not a
reflection on its performance.
De Swaan, 66, was named acting chairman at the time of
Ackermann’s departure. He is a Dutch citizen who spent most of his professional
career in the banking industry before joining Zurich in 2006 as a member of the
board.
Kindle, 54, a citizen of Liechtenstein and Switzerland,
joined Zurich’s board in 2006. He spent his career in consulting and technology
companies.
Ackermann, former Deutsche Bank chief executive, recently stepped down from the board of the German engineering firm
Siemens after clashing with other board members over the replacement of its
chairman.
Today, Reuters says Ackermann publicly rejected any responsibility for Wauthier’s death, saying he
had little interaction with him.
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