Cochlear names new chairman

Hearing implant company Cochlear Ltd has named a new chairman after Tommie Bergman announced he would retire at the end of the current financial year.

Cochlear director Rick Holliday-Smith will take over as chairman on July 1 after five years on the company's board.

Mr Bergman was appointed to the Cochlear board in January 2002 and has been chairman since October that year.

"Mr Bergman has led Cochlear through considerable growth to its strong leadership role in the industry today," the board said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr Holliday-Smith has a background in financial services, serving as managing director of HongKong Bank Limited, HSBC's London-based merchant bank in the 1980s before working in Chicago as president of NationsBanc-CRT.

As well as his position with Cochlear he is currently a director of ASX Ltd and Servcorp Ltd, and is chairman of the federal government's Snowy Hydro Ltd.