Since abandoning his political career in 2010, former Rudd-Gillard government finance minister, Lindsay Tanner, has carved out a rich business career on the back of a brilliant legal mind and professional ties with high-profile Melbourne investment banker, John Wylie.From January, Tanner will join the Suncorp board, filling one of the vacancies left by retiring board members, Bill Bartlett and Ewoud Kulk.Tanner joined Wylie as a special adviser at Lazard Australia at the end of 2010 and has continued to work for the investment bank ever since.Wylie, who is closely connected to a string of Brisbane-based companies, has been a longstanding strategic adviser to Suncorp.In the fallout of the global financial crisis Wylie was a key player in a strategic push to merge Suncorp with a major bank.A potential deal that would have seen Suncorp swallowed by ANZ was scuppered in October 2008 when Tanner and other senior ministers in the Rudd Government hatched a policy that guaranteed deposits held by licensed banks and credit unions. In the absence of the deposit guarantee it is likely that Suncorp's insurance and banking businesses today would have been absorbed into ANZ's national operations.In addition to his role at Lazard Australia, the Suncorp appointment means that Tanner now sits on seven boards as an independent director.He is a member of the Virgin Australia and Covata boards, and chairs the Essendon Football Club in the AFL.