Catherine Bessant
Member of the Board of Directors
Nationality: U.S.
Born: 1960
Skills and experience
Since 2024, Ms. Bessant has served as chief executive officer of U.S. philanthropic organization Foundation For The Carolinas, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. For four decades, Ms. Bessant worked at Bank of America, joining in 1982 as a corporate banker. She held numerous senior leadership positions within the company: president of Global Product Solutions and Global Treasury Services; chief marketing officer; president of Consumer Real Estate and Community Development Banking; national Small Business Segment executive; market president of Bank of America, Florida; and president of Global Corporate Banking. Ms. Bessant served as chief operations and technology officer from 2010 until September 2021, leading Bank of America’s Global Technology and Operations. In this role, she was responsible for end-to-end technology and operating services, including business continuity and information security efforts across the company, and oversaw nearly 95,000 employees and contractors in more than 35 countries. From October 2021 until December 2023, Ms. Bessant was vice chair, Global Strategy at Bank of America and a member of the Bank of America’s executive management team. In this role she was responsible for working with Bank of America’s European boards and focused on the bank’s global integrated strategy, governance, and client and regulator engagement. In recognition of her multi-sector leadership, Ms. Bessant was inducted into the Most Powerful Women in Banking Hall of Fame by American Banker in 2020 after ranking as the No. 1 of the ‘25 Most Powerful Woman in Banking’ for three consecutive years. In addition, she served 16 years on the board of Florida Blue, formerly Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, including serving as lead independent director. She became a member of the boards of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd and Zurich Insurance Company Ltd in March 2017.
Committee membership
Audit Committee (Chair), Remuneration Committee, Risk and Investment Committee
Other directorships within the Group
Zurich Insurance Company Ltd
External appointments
Ms. Bessant serves as chair of the USA Field Hockey board and serves on the advisory board of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Educational background
Ms. Bessant holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
