Kath Cates

Senior Independent Director

Kath Cates was appointed to the Board on 1 February 2021. She is Chair of the Risk Committee and a member of the Audit and Nominations & Governance Committees.

Appointed

1 February 2021

Board skills and experience

Kath brings to the Board a wealth of experience in global financial services with over 25 years in executive roles based in Hong Kong, London, Singapore and Zurich. Her responsibilities spanned risk, legal and compliance, operations, IT, brand, HR and strategy. More recently as a Non-executive Kath has gained broad experience on the main boards of a number of companies, chairing Board committees and acting as Senior Independent Director. Kath is a current member of Chapter Zero and was appointed our Senior Independent Director in March 2023 succeeding Michael Heaney.

Career

Kath was previously Global COO, Wholesale Banking for Standard Chartered Bank plc. Prior to that Kath spent over 20 years at UBS in a variety of senior roles including Global Head of Compliance. Kath was previously a Non-executive Director and Chair of the Risk Committee of Brewin Dolphin Holdings plc, and a Non-executive Director and Remuneration Committee Chair of RSA Insurance Group plc.

External appointments

Non-executive Director, Remuneration Committee chair, and member of the Audit and Nomination Committees of United Utilities Group plc. Non-executive Director of two regulated subsidiaries, and also Audit Committee chair of one, in the Columbia Threadneedle Group. Chair of the Board of Brown Shipley & Co Limited.