AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. appointed a former Ally Bank president to its board of directors. Validus Specialty appointed a former XL Catlin executive in a leadership role focused on Western World and Crop Risk Services.

***

AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. appointed former Ally Bank CEO Barbara Yastine to its board of directors, effective July 1, 2018.

Yastine’s appointment increases the size of the AXIS Capital board to 11 members, nine of whom are independent directors. AXIS Capital also announced that Yastine will join the board’s Audit Committee, effective Sept. 1, 2018.

Yastine has held a number of senior-level management positions throughout her career. She is the past chair, CEO and president of Ally Bank, where she guided the company’s growth in the digital and e-commerce space. Prior to that, she was chief administrative officer of the bank’s parent company, Ally Financial.

Before Ally Bank, Yastine was principal of Southgate Alternative Investments, a startup diversified alternative asset manager. Prior to Southgate, she had been CFO of Credit Suisse First Boston. Yastine also spent 15 years at Citigroup and its predecessor companies, where she held several management positions. Yastine currently serves on the board of directors of First Data Corporation, Primerica Inc. and Zions Bancorporation.

***

Validus Specialty Underwriting Services Inc. appointed Bob Eells as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Validus Specialty, Western World and Crop Risk Services.

Eells will report to Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ritz and be a member of the organization’s leadership team. Among his key responsibilities will be leading operations and business enablement. Eells, who joins Validus from XL Catlin, will be based in the Parsippany, N.J., office.

Eells is a 30-year commercial insurance industry veteran. Before joining Validus, he focused on new products, innovations and corporate acquisitions at XL Catlin. He previously held increasingly senior roles at Catlin and worked at XL Group, Reliance Insurance and Philadelphia Insurance.

Sources: Axis Capital Holdings, Validus Specialty