Roche appoints new chief financial officer
The Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Roche, has announced that its chief financial officer, Henri Meier, will retire at the end of the year to be replaced by Anton Affentranger, currently chief executive of the Geneva-based private bank, Lombard Odier.
Affentranger, 43, has dual Swiss-Argentine nationality and was born in Argentina. After studying economics, he joined the Swiss Bank Corporation in 1981 and worked in its United States, Hong Kong and Geneva offices, before becoming the youngest-ever member of the management team at the age of 39.
Industry analysts say he will have a tough job filling the shoes of Meier, who has held the post for 15 years and is regarded as a financial genius.
When the Swiss Bank Corporation merged with the Union Bank of Switzerland to form UBS, Affentranger became chief executive of Lombard Odier.
In another boardroom reshuffle, Roche is appointing William Burns to head the pharmaceuticals division to allow Franz Humer to concentrate on his function as Roche Group chief executive.
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