The chairman of Suncorp Group, Ziggy Switkowski, will retire from the board after Suncorp's annual general meeting on 20 September 2018. He joined the board in 2005 and has been its chairman for almost seven years. Christine McLoughlin, who joined the Suncorp board in February 2015, has been announced as the next chairman. She currently heads the Suncorp remuneration committee and is a member of the board's risk committee. McLoughlin was the inaugural chairman of the Australian Payments Council, one of several board and executive roles over her 20-year career in financial services. After a notable uptick in January to 1.30 per cent, Australian home loan arrears fell in February to 1.16 per cent off the back of a decline in total loans outstanding and improving conditions in the broader economy, according to a recent report by S&P Global Ratings. The improvement was consistent nationwide, with mortgage arrears decreasing in all states and territories - with the exception of loans more than 90 days in arrears, which reached 0.66 per cent in February. This was above their average for the past decade of 0.52 per cent. S&P also suggested that RMBS portfolios should be able to absorb a gradual rise in interest rates, provided jobs growth continues and economic conditions remain relatively benign.  Adrian Orr, the new chairman of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, told RNZ that moves away from fossil fuels need to be slow and gradual to avoid shocks to the financial system. Orr said he agreed with Bank of England governor Mark Carney that a rapid transition from fossil fuels, and accompanying divestment of their associated stocks, would have a huge impact on global stability. Ironically, during his tenure in his previous job as head of the NZ Super Fund, Orr oversaw the fund's divestment of several fossil fuel stocks such as Shell, Exxon Mobil and BP.