Ann Godbehere, the new chief financial officer of Northern Rock, looks supremely well qualified to deal with the complex financial issues facing the newly nationalised bank. Ms Godbehere has spent her whole career in the fiendishly complex world of reinsurance.

The 52-year-old Canadian, who will work alongside Ron Sandler, another insurance veteran, cut her teeth in the insurance world in 1976, when she joined Sun Life of Canada. She went on to join Mercantile & General Reinsurance Group (M&G) five years later and rose to become senior vice-president and controller for M&G's life, property and casualty businesses in North America in 1995. When M&G was bought by Swiss Re a year later, she stayed with the enlarged business, becoming chief financial officer of Swiss Re Life & Health for North America.

Ms Godbehere rose steadily, becoming chief executive of Swiss Re Life & Health in Canada. In 1998, she moved to London as chief financial officer of the group's Life & Health division and in 2001 she joined its property and casualty unit, based in Zurich, as chief financial officer.

At the end of 2002, she was made head of group finance for Swiss Re, becoming the first woman to join the venerable institution's executive board and being named by Fortune magazine as one of the business world's 50 most powerful women.

Ms Godbehere established a strong reputation in the financial community while with Swiss Re. Analysts described her as “a good communicator” and “a safe pair of hands”, with one Swiss analyst praising the “new dynamism” she brought to the role. It was something of a surprise when she resigned at the end of 2006 amid rumours of discord between her and Jacques Aigrain, the Swiss Re chief executive. The company said that she was leaving after “deciding to continue her professional career outside Swiss Re”.

Ms Godbehere, who qualified as a certified general accountant in 1983 (she has since been made a fellow), has maintained her links with the insurance world since leaving Swiss Re. Last year, she became a non-executive director of Prudential and of Atrium Underwriters. She has dual Canadian and British citizenship.