Richard Keys chairs the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee. He is a chartered accountant and retired senior partner of UK firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) . Over his thirty-seven years at PwC he held a number of senior management positions, most recently that of Global Chief Accountant, leading a team of partners and professionals across more than thirty countries. His roles have included responsibility for many top clients on both a national and global basis, where he worked closely with and advised boards, senior management, and audit committees. Richard has spent a period on secondment to the UK Government and had significant involvement in the UK privatisation programme as well as the first initial public offering of a major Chinese airline.
Since 2010, Richard has enjoyed a portfolio of Board roles ranging across: banking, air transport, utilities, central Government, and education. He is currently a Non-Executive Director (NED) at Merrill Lynch International and the Department for Transport.