Subsequently, Robert Kaye was appointed to the board as a non-executive director, effectively immediately, and Michael McConnell resigned from the board, effective beginning at 5 p.m. the night prior to the next general meeting of shareholders.
Barker is an actuary with a career background in institutional investment management and has held a number of senior executive positions including with NatWest Investment Management, County NatWest Investment Management, and Aetna Life and Casualty. He has served as a non-executive director on a number of boards in the financial and property sectors and is currently a director of Metlife Insurance Ltd.
Kaye is a senior counsel in NSW who has given legal and strategic advice and acted for many public and private financial institutions and commercial enterprises. He has had significant mediation experience and has been involved in the successful resolution of complex disputes in an array of commercial matters both advisory and litigious in nature.
Barker noted that "as the newly elected chairman, I am committed to working with the other directors and management to build rapidly and efficiently on the restructuring and diversification plans already announced and restore value to our shareholders. We are very conscious of the interests of the hybrid holders and other stakeholders, and plan to return the company to profitability
"The industries in which we operate have been facing challenging times, particularly in Europe, and major efforts are being devoted to our European operations to bring their results in line with the better performing operations in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Canada. We have a significant presence in many of the countries in which we operate, and we intend to leverage on our global position in coming months," Barker concluded.
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