James Neilson Pettigrew (born 28 July 1958) currently the chairman of the AIB Group Plc, a major Irish banking and financial services group, and has overseen the successful return of the bank from state to public ownership. He is also chairman of RBC Global Asset Management UK Ltd. From 2014 to 2020, he was the chairman of Virgin Money & CYBG PLC, the owners of Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank. CYBG PLC was formed as part of the demerger with National Australia Bank in early 2016. From 2016 to 2019, he was Chairman of Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE), the representative body for Scotland's financial services industry, from 2016 to 2019. He also co-chaired the Financial Services Advisory Board (FiSAB) with the First Minister, served on the advisory board of TheCityUK and chaired the Dundee Heritage Trust. He was also chair for Scottish Ballet from 2020 to 2026, guiding the company through the difficult times of the COVID-19 Pandemic and back onto the national and international stage. He is also a former president of ICAS.
In 1988, Pettigrew joined Sedgwick Group plc, a member of the FTSE 100, rising to become group treasurer and stayed until December 1998, at which point he was deputy group CFO.
In January 1999, he joined ICAP plc, which became a FTSE 100 company and the world's largest specialist inter-dealer broker, as group finance director.
He was chief operating and financial officer of Ashmore Group plc from 2006 to 2007, where he played an important role supporting the initial public offering and managing the post IPO process both internally and externally.
Pettigrew then became chief executive officer of CMC Markets plc in October 2007, having previously served as a non-executive director.
Since leaving CMC Markets plc in 2009, Pettigrew has been building a portfolio of non-executive director appointments; with a focus on the Financial Services and Insurance sectors. He is currently serving on the below boards:
