AXA CFO Harlin retires as CEO pursues top management overhaul

PARIS, June 20 (Reuters) - French insurance company AXA said longtime Chief Financial Officer Gerald Harlin will retire at the end of the year as part of a three-year management overhaul overseen by CEO Thomas Buberl.

Etienne Bouas-Laurent, currently CEO of AXA Hong Kong, will become deputy CFO on Sept. 1 and replace Harlin in early 2020, in a move that underscores Buberl's focus on the Asian markets.

Harlin, 63, has been CFO since 2010 and held management positions in the group since he was poached from oil company Total in 1990, AXA said.

Since he was appointed as overall CEO of AXA 2016, Buberl has overseen major changes at the company including a $15 billion acquisition of Bermuda-based insurer XL and divestment of its U.S. life-insurance AXA Equitable Holdings.

Alongside focusing AXA more on property damage and health insurance, Buberl has overhauled the French company's top management and replaced senior executives.

Over three years, Buberl has replaced all the members of the company's management committee with a group reflecting more diversity in gender and nationality. (Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Deepa Babington)