Legal & General CFO Mark Gregory to step down

Legal & General's board was looking at losing a long serving member on Thursday, as Group Chief Financial Officer Mark Gregory announced his intention to retire on 31 January 2017.

Gregory had been with the FTSE 100 firm for 17 years, and for the last seven had served as an executive director on the board - initially as Chief Executive Officer of the Savings business, and then as the Group Chief Financial Officer.

The company's board said Gregory would remain as the Group CFO until a successor was appointed, and had committed to ensuring a smooth handover.

Legal & General's Nominations Committee was commencing a search for a successor.

"My time since becoming Group CFO has coincided with a period of significant regulatory change resulting from the introduction of Solvency II, and it is pleasing to have secured approval for all our applications", Gregory said of his time with Legal & General.

"Whilst a difficult decision, I have decided that next January is a good time for me to be retiring from the group. In the meantime, I look forward to presenting the full-year results in March and helping to deliver the strategy over the coming year", he added.

Group Chief Executive Nigel Wilson said Gregory had made a terrific contribution in his various and important roles.

Chairman John Stewart described Gregory's nomination to the board in 2009 as coming at a difficult time for all companies in the financial services sector.

"The success Legal & General has achieved since then is in no small part due to the contribution that Mark has made, both as an effective executive and as an astute and insightful board colleague", he continued.