IRLA Directors

Liam Bedford is an employed Barrister based in Leeds and joined the board of directors in April 2023. Liam came into re/insurance in 2012 and basically migrated with his clients around 2016 to the legacy market. He was an active member of the Association's Learning & Development Committee and the winner of the Young Professional of the Year 2021. Liam is a 'recommended lawyer' in the 2020/21 edition of The Legal 500.

Liam is a great believer in supporting members with professional training as well as mentor and peer support. He is able to do this in his role by:

• Maintaining knowledge of the current and anticipated market issues or topics relevant to the membership
• Communicating with the board and members to understand their internal needs and thereby possible economy of scale training requirements
• He encourages involvement from the board and membership to commit to the professional standards and training programme of the Association.
• Engages in conversation with like-minded HR/ trainers to work together to create an annual cost effective and high-quality technical programme and legacy qualification

James Bolton is a Chartered Accountant and qualified Insolvency Practitioner who joined the board of Directors in May 2016, having been on the Membership & Communications Committee since 2013. James is unusual on the board as he was first involved in legacy work in 1990, 6 years before he began work in re/insurance. James is a director of Quest Group Holdings Limited.

James's role as part of Financial Advisory is:

• To liaise with the Secretariat in preparing the annual budget for presentation to the board ahead of the start of each financial year
• Present regular reports to the board on the Association's performance in relation to the annual budget
• Review membership fees and categories annually based on use, working with the Membership Director and Head of Secretariat for budget and membership value considerations
• The accountant is elected annually, and it is the role of the Treasurer to ensure Secretariat provides the accountant with all information to prepare the year end financial reports
• To recommend a course of action should the accounts reflect a large surplus or a reduced income
• As part of the FA to keep on top of the financial implications of strategic and operational plans of the Association. Situations of potential financial conflict including late payers, requested waivers or discounts will be presented by Secretariat to the Treasurer for action

Richard Burrows joined the board of directors in April 2023. He is a Partner at Weightmans LLP based in Liverpool and he came into re/insurance in 2014. Richard was on the YPG Committee from 2020 until 2024 and was elected Chairman of YPG in 2022. Richard is now looking after the whole membership having worked alongside Jenny Fair for a year. He also actively supports IRLA's path for Future Leaders within the Association and is an active participant in IRLAs communications work.

In 2023 Richard achieved his PB in the London marathon of 2:57:07 and this was followed by receiving the Future Leader Award in May 2023 at Congress.

Anirvan Choudhury joined the board of directors in June 2024. Anirvan has extensive regulatory experience having worked at the PRA in insurance supervision for more than 7 years. In his last role at the PRA he was the head of the run-off supervision team.  

Anirvan's role is- 

• To develop and maintain relationships with regulators and other key insurance bodies and associations, particularly:- UK the FCA, PRA, FSCS and DWP; Europe - ACA (Luxembourg), ACPR (France), AFM (Netherlands), BaFin (Germany), CBI (Ireland), DGSFP (Spain), EIOPA, GFSC (Gibraltar), GFSC (Guernsey), IVASS (Italy), JFSC (Jersey) & MFSA (Malta); USA - Oklahoma and Rhode Island, also via Association of Runoff Companies (USA) AIRROC; Australasia - APRA (Australia), CBRIC (China) & MAS (Singapore);
• To co-ordinate the lobbying of regulators 1. generally, on market issues, and 2. to recognise legacy as a sector of the (re)insurance market independent of the live market and consequently to allow legacy solutions [e.g., IVASS];
• To assess the value of and co-ordinates the involvement of IRLALCL and IRLA in joint market matters that involve forms of regulation.

Acts as liaison for consultation papers that would benefit from IRLA input.
 
Informs the board(s) on regulatory news/updates (primarily for the UK but also across regional regulators as relationships develop).
 
Maintains and extends contacts with the regulatory framework to ensure inclusion in, or referral to, legacy matters.
 

Gian Luigi di Franco is an in-house lawyer and joined the board of directors in April 2023 when he was also appointed Company Secretary. Gian Luigi was the Deputy Chairman of YPG until 2021 when he became Company Secretary for LCL. Gian Luigi's career began in legacy in 2005 and he has been working in this sector from the start. He works for RiverStone in their Ipswich office.

Gian Luigi:

• Supports the Corporate Social Responsibilities Group and provides advice
• Ensures that the Directors and Secretariat act appropriately; liaises with relevant parties over potential areas of conflict or incidents that may give rise to an insurance claim or other legal/ official response requirement
• Works with, and offers advice to Secretariat on corporate governance including the board meetings and AGM
• Oversees the administrative decisions, responsibilities and issues arising on a day-to-day basis re the board/board meetings
• Oversees contracts, insurance, and licences to ensure that the requirements of the company and company law are met

Jenny Fair joined the board of directors in October 2011,  and in a weird quirk of fate Jenny and Leslie-Ann had both joined the London Market on 4 January 1977. Jenny’s first interaction with IRLA was in 1999 when she assisted on the very first Congress. Many years later she became involved once more as a director and was acting Deputy Chairman in 2013 for a period supporting Paul Corver. Jenny is Managing Director of Fidelis Consultants Limited; a company that provides Insurance Tracing Services (EL & PL), Lloyds Coverholder & EL Audits, and Technical Translation services and speaks French as well as Spanish fluently.

IRLAs Corporate Social Responsibility is overseen by Jenny Fair and Leslie-Ann Giovnilli looks after the Code of Conduct aspect.

Jenny's role for her retiring period is to act as a mentor for the younger board members, as well as continuing with her market contacts to promote and engage with them on all things IRLA.

Kevin Gill is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Insurance Practitioner who joined the board of directors in November 2020 and in 2023 Kevin was elected Chairman to oversee the succession plans that board had approved. Kevin is a Partner at EY and leads its Insurance Restructuring and Run-off practice as well as heading up its UK corporate simplification and exits business, Kevin began working in re/insurance in 1989 with a transition to legacy in 1992. Kevin's role encompasses:

• Being the primary public figure for the Association, greeting keynote speakers, sponsors, and community figures; the Chairman represents the Association's mission at all times, using day-to-day social interactions to encourage sponsorship, services, or volunteer hours
• At the AGM he will introduce the officers to speak about the Association's activities of the past year and then outline the board plans for the following year
• Co-ordinating strategy away days and encourage discussion and agreement of S-M-L strategy for the Association
• Providing a neutral voice at each board meeting taking reports from those who have an active role in a specific task, to a. encourage and b. to understand and consider all the differing aspects (planning, finance etc.) to guide the task to a satisfactory conclusion
• Whilst all communications must go via Lexia , the Chairman will be the first choice for presenting the agreed message
• For the Associations main board activities, such as succession planning and financial spend the Chairman will govern the process