Top Reshuffle At Brown Shipley

Jackie Bennion

28 May 2020

A major figure in private banking and wealth management over the years, Rory Tapner has replaced Jan Maarten de Jong as chair of last summer, where he played a part in steering the NW Brown acquisition, launching a new investment platform, and rebranding of the pan European group to Quintet. His replacement is BNY Mellon veteran Michael Cole Fontayn, subject to regulatory approval, the firm said yesterday.

The reshuffle follows de Jong’s decision to retire after three decades on the Quintet board and as its chairman since 2015.

Cole Fontayn (pictured top) spent more than 35 years at BNY Mellon in a number of senior international roles. As chair and CEO of its EMEA business, he was a member of the group’s corporate executive and operating committees.

Brown Shipley said that as the new chair he will work alongside its executive directors to shape the strategic growth of the business and its alignment with the parent group.

“Michael is an influential and well respected leader in financial services, and I’m delighted to welcome him to Brown Shipley. The breadth of his executive and board experience will be invaluable as we continue to develop our business and strategic growth plans at this very important time for the business. He is also dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion, in particular supporting mental health and wellbeing in financial services, and he will play a part in helping to further shape our D&I agenda," Brown Shipley’s chief executive Alan Mathewson said.

Cole Fontayn currently chairs the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI); he is also a member of TheCityUK advisory board, and a member of the Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities Markets Standards Board (FMSB).

Mathewson also thanked Tapner for his "strategic counsel" over the past year. "We look forward to continuing to benefit from his expertise in his new role at Quintet.”

During 26 years at UBS, Tapner ran its capital markets and investment banking businesses, and headed the group's Asia-Pacific business. He left the Swiss wealth manager to become chief executive of Coutts in 2010.