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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH, AP) -- Gov. Nikki Haley has picked the CEO of a U.S. subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada to lead South Carolina's insurance agency.

Haley announced Thursday that she has chosen David Black of Greenville to run the Department of Insurance.

Black is president and CEO of Liberty Life Insurance. The Greenville-based company is part of the Royal Bank of Canada's insurance operations.

Haley says she likes Black's experience, and said he will be a partner and friend to insurance companies.

We’re thrilled that David Black has agreed to serve at the Department of Insurance,” said Gov. Haley. “He understands that Insurance can and should be an economic development agency, and that the agency must be as customer friendly and as pro-business as possible," she continues.

Fifty-three-year-old Black would replace Insurance Director Scott Richardson, a former state senator appointed to the job in February 2007.

Black earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Clemson University, and a law degree from the University of South Carolina.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)