UK-headquartered Sesame Bankhall Group chief executive George Higginson is leaving after three years with the company and there will be expanded roles for chairman John Cowan and managing director Stephen Gazard.

UK-headquartered Sesame Bankhall Group chief executive George Higginson is leaving after three years with the company and there will be expanded roles for chairman John Cowan and managing director Stephen Gazard.

Finance director Paul Hooper is also leaving the group and will be replaced by Jim Kelly, who has 30 years industry experience and has held senior roles with Lloyds Abbey Life, RBS and Aviva.

Chairman John Cowan will continue to lead the SBG Board. Cowan has over 40 years of experience in financial services and joined the group in 2009 as an independent non-executive director, before becoming SBG chairman in 2013.

Gazard joined SBG 12 months ago as distribution director and became managing director in June 2013. He will now will take on a wider remit with responsibility for leading the executive team, reporting to Cowan.

Pan Andreas and John Cupis will continue to work alongside Gazard to lead the wealth management and mortgage businesses within the group, also reporting to Cowan.

Last year, the Financial Conduct Authority fined SBG £6,031,200 (around $9 million) for failing to ensure that the investment advice given to its customers was suitable, and failings in the systems and controls that governed the oversight of its appointed representatives.

In February last year, following market speculation that SBG might sell part or all of its business, the firm announced that Barclays Capital had been appointed to review strategic options for the group.