Zurich Insurance Group chairman Josef Ackermann has stepped down from the role after little more than a year in office following the apparent suicide of chief financial officer Pierre Wauthier earlier in the week.

Ackermann said in a statement that he was resigning as he believed the allegations made against him by the late CFO's family could hurt the reputation of the firm.

“The unexpected death of Pierre Wauthier has deeply shocked me. I have reasons to believe that the family is of the opinion that I should take my share of responsibility, as unfounded as any allegations might be," said Ackermann.

"As a consequence, I see the possibility of a continued successful board leadership to the benefit of Zurich called into question. To avoid any damage to Zurich’s reputation, I have decided to resign from all my board functions with immediate effect,” he added.

Tom de Swaan, the vice-chairman of the board, will assume the role of acting chairman, the insurer said.

The body of Wauthier was discovered on Monday in his apartment in Zug, Switzerland. Police said that the death of the 53-year-old CFO appeared to be suicide, according to media reports. 

He leaves a wife and two children.

Wauthier, who had dual UK and French citizenship, began his career at KMPG in 1982. He then worked at the French foreign ministry and JPMorgan Chase before joining Zurich Insurance 17 years ago. He was appointed CFO at Zurich in 2011.

Martin Senn, chief executive officer at Zurich, said in a statement released yesterday: “The board of directors, group executive committee and all of our colleagues are deeply saddened and pass on our condolences to the family and relatives.”

The statement added that Vibhu Sharma, group controller at Zurich, will take over the group CFO role on an interim basis.