Siemens names new financial chief

German engineering and technology giant Siemens on Wednesday named Ralf Thomas as its new chief financial officer, replacing Joe Kaeser, who became the group's new chief executive in August. "At its meeting today, Siemens' Supervisory Board appointed Ralf Thomas CFO of Siemens AG," the company said in a statement. The appointment was with immediate effect. Thomas, 52, was previously CFO at the company's industry division. "With Ralf Thomas, we are gaining an experienced CFO who is very familiar with circumstances at Siemens through his many years of working at the company," said Siemens supervisory board chief Gerhard Cromme. Thomas joined Siemens in 1995 and was appointed head of corporate finance accounting in 2004 and then chief financial officer at the industry division in 2008. Kaeser, 56, the group's CFO since 2006, was appointed chief executive from August 1.