Morgan Stanley names board member Glocer as new independent lead director

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley board member Thomas Glocer will take over the role of independent lead director starting in September, the bank said on Thursday.

Glocer replaces Erskine Bowles, who had been independent lead director since 2014, and will remain on the board. The change is part of a governance policy to rotate directors periodically.

Although a chairman is in charge of a board, the role of lead independent director has become more important in recent years as a check and balance at companies like Morgan Stanley that have the same person in place as chairman and chief executive officer.

In a press release, the bank’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Gorman cited Glocer’s experience in “fin tech,” the mixture of finance and technology, a popular concept on Wall Street as banks try to become more digitally savvy.

Glocer had been CEO of Thomson Reuters Corp, which owns Reuters news service, from 2008 through 2011, and CEO of Reuters Group PLC before it merged with Thomson. He joined Morgan Stanley’s board in 2013.

Morgan Stanley director Jami Miscik will take over Glocer’s role as chair of the board’s operations and technology committee, the bank said. Director Rayford Wilkins will chair the nominating and governance committee. Both positions also take effect Sept. 1.