Philip Yea, the new chief executive of 3i, the private equity firm, has resigned as a non-executive director of HBOS, the banking group. To have remained on both boards would have contravened best practice guidelines of the National Association of Pension Funds, the powerful UK shareholder lobby group.

The NAPF declined to comment on Yea's appointment to 3i because it is currently preparing a position paper on any potential governance issues ahead of the private equity group's annual meeting on July 7.