Zurich, Switzerland - ABB's board of directors announced Sept. 5 that Jürgen Dormann, ABB's board chairman, will immediately assume operational leadership of the ABB Group, aiming to speed up implementation of company strategy. Jörgen Centerman has resigned as ABB's president and ceo, and as a member of the ABB Board of Directors. Mr. Dormann has been a member of the ABB Board of Directors since 1998, and has served as its chairman since November 2001. In other news, to decrease existing debt, ABB announced Sept. 4 that it's selling most of its Structured Finance business to GE Commercial Finance for about $2.3 billion in cash including equity and debt, pending regulatory approvals. Structured Finance, part of ABB's Financial Services division, employs 500 people in 11 countries.