AkzoNobel has today announced that Jan Karel van der Staay, General Counsel, will leave the company at the end of the year and will be succeeded by Sven Dumoulin, currently Group Secretary of Unilever.
During a complex period as General Counsel, Jan Karel made a major contribution to the recent transformation of AkzoNobel and was closely involved in the acquisition of ICI and related transactions.
With professionalism and vision Jan Karel successfully established the design of AkzoNobel's legal function and its alignment with our businesses. Moreover, under his inspiration and ultimate responsibility he managed governance, compliance and risk management with a high level of effectiveness.
This phase of AkzoNobel's transformation has now been completed and Jan Karel has expressed his wish to look for new challenges.
Sven Dumoulin is currently Group Secretary of Unilever. Before joining Unilever, he worked as a lawyer with a leading Dutch law firm and held professorships in international company law and corporate law. Sven was also an advisory member of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code Committee.
During a complex period as General Counsel, Jan Karel made a major contribution to the recent transformation of AkzoNobel and was closely involved in the acquisition of ICI and related transactions.
With professionalism and vision Jan Karel successfully established the design of AkzoNobel's legal function and its alignment with our businesses. Moreover, under his inspiration and ultimate responsibility he managed governance, compliance and risk management with a high level of effectiveness.
This phase of AkzoNobel's transformation has now been completed and Jan Karel has expressed his wish to look for new challenges.
Sven Dumoulin is currently Group Secretary of Unilever. Before joining Unilever, he worked as a lawyer with a leading Dutch law firm and held professorships in international company law and corporate law. Sven was also an advisory member of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code Committee.
Hans Wijers, Chairman and CEO of AkzoNobel, said: "I would like to thank Jan Karel for his enormous efforts and his key contribution to AkzoNobel's transformation and wish him all the best for the future. I also wish Sven Dumoulin every success in his new role."
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AkzoNobel is proud to be one of the world's leading industrial companies. Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, we make and supply a wide range of paints, coatings and specialty chemicals - 2008 revenue totaled €15.4 billion. In fact, we are the largest global paints and coatings company. As a major producer of specialty chemicals we supply industries worldwide with quality ingredients for life's essentials. We think about the future, but act in the present. We're passionate about introducing new ideas and developing sustainable answers for our customers. That's why our 60,000 employees - who are based in more than 80 countries - are committed to excellence and delivering Tomorrow's Answers Today(TM).
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