Assicurazioni GENERALI has appointed Jaime ANCHUSTEGUI MELGAREJO, currently head of the EMEA area, as Group Chief Operations & Insurance Officer, a position newly created as proposed by Group CEO, Philippe DONNET.

The new role combines the activities of the "operations" area with those of the "Insurance Officer" and will report directly to the Group CEO. MELGAREJO's new position will be effective 1 January 2018, with the approval of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee. He will consequently join the Group Management Committee (GMC) starting in 2018.

ANCHUSTEGUI, 55, is a graduate of Madrid's Universidad Politecnica and has been CEO of GENERALI Espana. He has also held important positions in Peru, Mexico and other Latin American countries.

The GENERALI Group CEO Philippe DONNET stated: "The creation of this new role is another important step towards simplifying our management structure and streamlining GENERALI's operations. In particular, we will be faster and more effective in facing the challenges posed by new digital technologies, which are a key way to meet customer needs through increasingly personalised solutions. The appointment of Jaime Anchustegui, who has extensive international experience thanks to his previous positions in Europe and Latin America, once again shows how the Group is capable of fostering the development of our staff, drawing on the best talent in our industry."

The decision means a single function will be in charge of transformation and technical performance improvements in the insurance business, operations, IT infrastructure and digitalisation. The new position will also manage and monitor initiatives to control operating costs and improve productivity, reinforcing the timely completion of the strategic plan, which has already produced important results.

Consequent to the decisions taken by the Board of Directors, the Company has decided to make a number of organisational changes to its geographical areas.

Specifically, the EMEA area has been eliminated, with responsibility for EMEA countries reallocated to the CEO of Global Business Lines & International, Frederic de COURTOIS.

The only exception is Austria, which has been integrated into the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) area, headed by Luciano CIRINA, strengthening GENERALI's presence in markets where it already posts strong results.