26 October 2015 Insurance

Willis GB hires former FSA exec as CEO of financial lines

Willis Group appointed Mary O’Connor as chief executive of financial lines for Willis GB. She joins from the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

O’Connor will join the executive committee of Willis GB, the operating segment that includes Willis’s specialty, facultative and retail insurance businesses in the UK. She retains her role as global head of Willis’s financial institutions industry, with responsibility for Willis’s world-wide practice in relation to all financial services clients.

Willis GB’s financial lines division includes FINEX – the financial and executive risks practice led by Jeremy Wall – as well as financial solutions, which covers political and trade credit risks and is led by Paul Davidson.

O’Connor, who has held senior positions in government in the UK and the US, joins Willis from the UK FSA where she was head of approved persons, with responsibility for overseeing regulation of executives and client-facing staff working in financial services in the UK. O’Connor was also a manager in the enforcement and financial crime division,

Prior to her time at the FSA (now the Financial Conduct Authority), O’Connor was a partner at a major US law firm in London, and an assistant US attorney in Washington, DC.

Nicolas Aubert, CEO of Willis GB, said: “I look forward to working closely with Mary as she joins Willis GB’s executive committee. I’m extremely confident that she will continue to drive forward our market leading financial and executive risks business, which has built a strong reputation over the years for delivering innovative and cost-effective risk management solutions to our clients.

“As a leading expert on risk and regulation she is uniquely positioned to provide our clients with the type of intelligence-based and progressive client solutions that define Willis as the analytical broker.”

O’Connor added: “With increased pressure at all levels, company directors and executives around the world are finding themselves more personally exposed than ever. New pressures have emerged with shifting social attitudes and the growing threat of legal action by employees, shareholders and regulatory authorities.

“As a global risk advisory, broking and solutions provider Willis is in a unique position to help our clients meet these challenges head-on, with a powerful mix of risk insights combined with practical solutions and innovative risk transfer mechanisms.”

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Elliot Field at efield@newtonmedia.co.uk or Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk