Chartis Australia CEO Chris Townsend has been named to head up a new Asia-Pacific regional grouping under a global restructure.

The global operations of Chartis, formerly the general insurance arm of troubled US insurance giant AIG, will be restructured into four distinct regions.

Australia will fall under the newly created Asia-Pacific region, with the regional headquarters based in Singapore. It’s not known if Mr Townsend will continue to operate from Sydney or move to the Asian insurance centre.

Other Chartis operations will report under Europe, the Far East and Emerging Markets. It retains its former AIG title only in the US, where it is currently selling assets to repay billions in government loans.

Mr Townsend says the move to Singapore will “shorten communication lines” by “bringing decision-making into closer proximity to our customers”.

“This is the start of a process of realignment for our business.”