ABN AMRO has appointed Lars Gustavsson (46) as Global Head of Services and Senior Executive Vice President as per 1 July 2006. Currently Gustavsson is Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Group. In his new position he succeeds Ron Teerlink, who previously joined the Managing Board.
Gustavsson joined ABN AMRO in July 2001 as Global Head of Technology for the Business Unit Wholesale Clients (WCS). In that position he was responsible for further improvement of the WCS IT organisation resulting in the first IT outsourcing initiative for the bank globally. Prior to ABN AMRO Gustavsson held a number of positions ranging from front to back office for banks, regulators and corporates in various countries.
In his role as Global Head of Services, Gustavsson will be responsible for leading the Services organisation, including delivering the commitments to improve service quality, reduce cost and manage risks while increasing the agility of the Services organisation world-wide.
In January this year ABN AMRO established a global Services organisation responsible for IT, Operations and other services activities across the different Business Units, resulting in an organisation of approximately 40,000 people operating in 60 countries.
Services’ goal, says ABN Amro, is to create value by driving regional and global synergies across the global Services community to improve the efficiency of the bank’s internal processes and create significant cost savings through consolidation, application of best practices, outsourcing and offshoring. The focus is on driving further innovation within the bank with the aim to achieve better products and services for our clients at reasonable costs.