(Reuters) -British American Tobacco appointed finance director Tadeu Marroco as CEO on Monday, succeeding Jack Bowles who is stepping down after about four years.

Marroco has been with the tobacco firm since 1992 and was appointed to the board in 2019.

Bowles, who also joined the board in 2019, has led the maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes through its transformation strategy to focus growth on new categories such as vape and e-cigarettes.

"Having been at the centre of the formulation of this strategy, I am convinced that this is the right strategic path for BAT," Marroco said in a statement.

Director Javed Iqbal will be interim finance director while the group looks for a permanent replacement for Marroco, the company said.

The news comes weeks after BAT agreed to pay more than $635 million to U.S. authorities after a subsidiary pleaded guilty to charges that it conspired to violate U.S. sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea and commit bank fraud, a U.S. court filing and the company said last month.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Kirsten Donovan)