Morgan Stanley has appointed Erskine Bowles as lead director of the New York-listed firm’s board of directors, taking over from C Robert Kidder with effect from February 1.

Morgan Stanley has appointed Erskine Bowles as lead director of the New York-listed firm’s board of directors, taking over from C Robert Kidder with effect from February 1.

The appointment of Bowles reflects Morgan Stanley’s governance policy of rotating lead directors after a period of time, the firm said.

Bowles has served as a Morgan Stanley director since December 2005 and as chair of the compensation, management development and succession committee since 2010. He was named co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform in 2010, and served as president of The University of North Carolina from 2006 through 2010.

Additionally, Bowles has been a senior advisor to private investment firm Carousel Capital since September 2001, and served as a managing director from March 1999 to September 2001. Between 1999 and 2001, he was a general partner of Forstmann Little & Co, a private investment firm.

In other recent news, last week Morgan Stanley promoted 153 managing directors across the world, view here.