* Former banker Schneider new CEO
* Meran to quit company
* Shares rise 0.8 percent (Adds details on Schneider, background, share price)
VIENNA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Austrian property firm Conwert has appointed ex-banker Clemens Schneider as its new chief executive and said administrative board chief Johannes Meran would leave the firm.
Schneider, 49, is currently manager of Austria's Rail-Holding AG, the owner of the Westbahn private long-distance rail and bus operator, as well as being on the board of Austrian pension fund Sozialversicherungspensionskasse AG. He was previously head of finance for the Austrian Trade union federation.
Meran, who currently runs real-estate group Conwert and had been criticised by large investors for his dual function as operations and governance chief, will leave the company on May 7 2014 after a handover period with Schneider.
Late on Tuesday, Conwert said it was near the end of a restructuring that has refocused its efforts on management of residential property in Germany and Austria while slashing 22 percent of its staff so far this year.
Schneider began his career as a banker, working in derivatives trading at Citi Bank, Deutsche Bank and Bank Austria before moving on to financial management in tourism.
Between 2007 and 2012, he was head of finances at the Austrian Trade Union Federation, managing its real estate portfolio and investments.
Conwert shares were up 0.8 percent to 9.23 euros by 1336 GMT, outperforming the European real estate index, which rose 0.3 percent. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Greg Mahlich)