Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. Treasury named Stephan Wilcke, a former partner at private-equity firm Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, to manage the 576 billion-pound ($923 billion) toxic assets insurance program.

Wilcke, who starts work as head of the Asset Protection Agency on Sept. 28, replaces Jeremy Bennett, who helped create the APA, the Treasury said in a statement today.

“The announcement of the APA’s chief executive is an important milestone as we move towards implementation of the scheme,” Treasury Minister Paul Myners said in the statement.

The Treasury is in negotiations with Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc about the final amount of assets the banks will put in the insurance plan, which aims to cap losses on toxic loans.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew MacAskill in London at amacaskill@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 25, 2009 06:39 EDT