CEO

In closely held corporations, it is general business culture that the office CEO is also the chairman of the board. Specifically, one person shares the chairman and CEO titles while another person takes the presidency or may become chief operating officer . Regardless, in virtually all cases where the CEO and president are not the same person, the CEO is of the higher rank and ultimate authority. However, the term president is from the U.S. and in the UK COO is favored. Underneath that comes the Executive Vice President or Executive Director. In publicly held corporations, the CEO and chairman positions can be separated but there are implications in corporate governance by doing so.

In some European Union countries, there are two separate boards, one executive board for the day-to-day business and one supervisory board for control purposes. In these countries, the chief executive and the chairman of the board will always be different people. This ensures a distinction between governance and management and allows for clear lines of authority. The aim is to prevent a conflict of interest and too much power being concentrated in the hands of one person.

In rare circumstances an Executive Chairperson can be appointed but this is either illegal in many jurisdictions or frowned upon by Regulators.

In the United Kingdom many Charities and Government Agencies are headed by a Chief Executive who is answerable to a Board of Trustees or Board of Directors. In the UK, the Chairman in public companies is more senior than the Chief Executive. Most public companies now split the role of Chairman and Chief Executive.