AMP has begun restocking its recently-depleted boards with two appointments last week.
The group named John O’Sullivan joins as AMP Ltd non-executive director and John Nesbitt as independent chair of AMP Capital Holdings (Australia).
An almost 40-year veteran in the financial services industry, O’Sullivan was most recently Credit Suisse Australia investment banking executive chair.
Previously, he served as general counsel of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia after a long career at Herbert Smith Freehills.
AMP saw an exodus of board members including chair, Catherine Brenner, in the wake of the Australian Royal Commission into financial services in April.
In a statement, interim AMP chair and chief executive, Mike Wilkins, said: “We’re committed to Board renewal and John’s appointment is part of the reset that is necessary to rebuild AMP as a stronger organisation. John will lead the Board Committee work around regulatory and legal matters.”
Meanwhile, Nesbitt fills a vacancy on the AMP Capital board created by the resignation of Vanessa Wallace, who also quit her AMP Ltd directorship.
Nesbitt shifts to the AMP Capital board from the group’s associated responsible entity and trustee boards, where he was independent chair: Ming Long has replaced him as independent chair on those boards.
Before taking on the AMP Capital chair, Nesbitt spent a 40-year career in finance spanning Australia, Asia, the US and UK. He was most recently Suncorp Banking and Wealth chief after a stint as head of private wealth for Perpetual.
His AMP Capital board predecessor, Wallace, said in a release: “John has a deep knowledge of the business and has extensive financial services experience. I’m proud of the achievements we’ve made globally during my two years as Chairman and I know the business will continue to prosper under John’s stewardship.”
Wilkins has been charged with shoring up AMP in the wake of the Royal Commission, which triggered a string of executive resignations – including former CEO, Craig Meller – as well as a board clean-out.
Former Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief, David Murray, will take over from Wilkins as AMP chair “on or before 1 July 2018”, the group said in a statement last month.
In the meantime, the review of AMP’s NZ financial services operations – previously flagged for sale – has been sidelined.
The group has also brought forward the announcement date of its 2018 interim results from August 9 to August 8.
AMP’s share price closed up slightly last Friday to $3.64 compared to a post-float low of $3.60 on June 12.