John McFarlane, OBE
John McFarlane, OBE
executive deputy chairman, Aviva plc
executive deputy chairman
born June 1947, Australian/British
Back to the Board of directors
Mr McFarlane was appointed to the board of Aviva plc in September 2011 and became deputy chairman and chairman designate in January 2012. Further to the announcement on 8 May 2012 that Andrew Moss, chief executive officer, was leaving the Group, Mr McFarlane became executive deputy chairman with immediate effect. He will become executive chairman from 1 July 2012 pending the appointment of a new chief executive officer. The appointment of executive deputy chairman is subject to regulatory approval.
He is a non-executive director of Westfield Holdings Ltd (retail mall developer and operator), Old Oak Holdings Ltd (financial services), and is a member of the advisory board of the Cranfield School of Management.
A banker, Mr McFarlane spent 35 years in the international banking industry and was chief executive officer of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) for 10 years between 1997 and 2007.
Before joining ANZ, Mr McFarlane was a group executive director at Standard Chartered plc. Prior to this, Mr McFarlane was head of Citicorp Investment Bank Ltd and later head of Citicorp and Citibank in the UK and Ireland.
He was formerly a non-executive director of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (banking), the London Stock Exchange and Capital Radio plc. He was also a non-executive director of The Securities Association (UK securities regulator), the Auditing Practices Board and the Business Council of Australia.
Mr McFarlane was president of the International Monetary Conference (the annual meeting of the heads of the world’s major banks and central banks) and was chairman of the Australian Bankers' Association. While in the UK, he was a member of the Bank of England Financial Law Review Panel and in 1992, he chaired The McFarlane Report - the review of “The Future Development of Auditing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.” More recently, he served as a member of the governing body of the Economics Research Institute for the Association of South East Asian Nations & East Asia.
Mr McFarlane was educated at the University of Edinburgh, Cranfield and the London Business School.
He brings to the board a deep knowledge of international financial services and markets, having been responsible for banking in over 50 countries. He is particularly well versed in strategy, people leadership and organisational cultural development.
Mr McFarlane has been awarded the OBE, the Australian Centenary Medal and the inaugural Cranfield Distinguished Alumnus award. He has banking and securities fellowships in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Membership of board committees
Presentations and interviews
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08 May 12 John McFarlane vodcast
- Vodcast View John McFarlane interview
