Stephen Lansdown has announced he will step down from his position as executive chairman at Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK-listed financial advisory and investment firm.

He is making the move to split executive and chairmanship roles as part of a process to comply with corporate governance standards affecting listed firms, Mr Lansdown said in a statement. He will step down with effect from 1 December this year but remain on the firm’s board as an executive director.

Mike Evans, who has served as a non-executive director for the group for the last three years, has agreed to seek election at the annual meeting as non-executive chairman with effect from 1 December. The board is joined by Ian Gorham as chief operating officer, formerly of Grant Thornton where he ran the firm's financial services group.

Hargreaves Lansdown floated on the London stock market in 2007.