Ashanti appoints chief financial officer

LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - Ghanaian mining company Ashanti Goldfields Co Ltd said on Thursday it had appointed Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan as its chief financial officer with effect from July 1.

Venkat was part of the Deloitte & Touche team that advised Ashanti -- Africa's third biggest gold producer -- during its financial crisis caused by huge derivative losses and had worked closely with Ashanti's executive team in this capacity over the last six months.

The current CFO, Mark Keatley, is stepping down on June 30 as part of the restructuring of the board agreed with the Ghana government and other stakeholders in February.