Ruth Markland to join Deloitte as non-executive director

Ruth Markland, the outgoing senior independent director of Standard Chartered, has been named an independent non-executive director of Deloitte in the UK, as she steps down from her role at the emerging markets-focused bank amid a boardroom clear out.

Ms Markland, who will join Deloitte on June 1, is one of three non-executive directors who are leaving StanChart. Its board faces criticism for failing to prevent breaches of compliance that have resulted in two fines by US regulators in recent years.

A trained lawyer, who was managing partner for Asia at Freshfields in Hong Kong between 1996 and 2003, Ms Markland has served on StanChart's board for 12 years - above the nine-year recommended limit under the UK corporate governance code.

Deloitte, which is best known for its consulting practice, is the second-largest of the UK's "big four" professional services firms by revenues, behind PwC and ahead of KPMG and EY.

The four firms are grappling with new European regulation that demands mandatory rotation of audit mandates and a cap on the fees they can receive from the provision of non-audit services such as consulting to audit clients.

On top of this, the firms' tax practices are coming under growing scrutiny as global regulators and politicians crack down on the tax arrangements of large multinational corporations.

At Deloitte, Ms Markland succeeds Dame DeAnne Julius, a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, who joined the firm as an independent non-executive in July 2011.

Sir Gerry Grimstone, Standard Life's chairman, and Sir Michael Peat, the former private secretary to the Prince of Wales, are continuing into a second term in their roles on Deloitte's board.

Deloitte's UK revenue increased 1.4 per cent to £2.55bn in the 12 months to May 31, its most recent financial year. Growth was lower than the 5 to 6 per cent for the year it had expected because of economic uncertainty in the UK.

The average profit earned by each Deloitte UK partner in the year, after providing for pensions and annuities payable to retired partners, was £750,000 against £772,000 last year.

Earlier this year StanChart announced it had hired the veteran JPMorgan investment banker Bill Winters to replace Peter Sands as chief executive next month. StanChart's chairman, Sir John Peace, is to step down as chairman next year and the head of its Asia division, Jaspal Bindra, is also leaving.

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