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BP has appointed Aviva chief executive Amanda Blank as its next senior independent director in the energy company's first major board shake-up since it oversaw the departure of its chairman Bernard Looney last year in a scandal over his past relationships with colleagues.
Blanc, who has been a member of BP's board since September 2022, will take up the new position after the shareholders' meeting in April, replacing Paula Rosput Reynolds, the company said in its annual report.
Tushar Murzaria, a member of the BP Board of Directors, who was previously Group CFO at Barclays, will assume Reynolds' role as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee on an interim basis.
The changes, sparked by Reynolds approaching the end of her nine-year term, come after a challenging year for the board, as Looney's hiring in 2019 and subsequent handling of allegations related to his past relationships came under scrutiny.
Looney resigned abruptly in September, admitting that he had failed to fully disclose his past relationships with colleagues following a set of accusations received by the board in May 2022.
BP subsequently found that Looney had “intentionally misled the board” and ended the notice period in December, announcing that the former chief executive would lose up to £32.4 million in salary.
In a letter to shareholders accompanying the annual report on Friday, Chairman Helge Lund defended the board's handling of Looney's departure.
“There have been challenges too, including the change of CEO in September,” he said. “However, for me and the board, the positive here was the effectiveness of our emergency succession planning.”
Under that plan, BP “within hours” appointed then-CFO Murray Auchincloss as interim CEO, before confirming his appointment as Looney's permanent replacement in January, Lund added.
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While some contributors privately wondered why the process took four months, Lund said it was done at a “fast pace” and included “robust and competitive” consideration of other candidates.
The report said that Auchincloss's annual basic salary rose to 1.45 million pounds after he was appointed interim CEO. His total remuneration for 2023 was just over £8m, including around £4.7m under the company's long-term share award. In 2022, before redemptions, Looney's total wages were worth just over £10m.
When Looney resigned, the company said it had launched an investigation into the allegations with support from outside counsel, but previously indicated it would not share details of the findings, beyond “themes and lessons” learned, to protect the privacy of participants.
In a move related to that investigation, Lund said Friday that an ad hoc board committee was formed last year, on an interim basis, with a focus on “psychological safety and speaking out.”
“As a board, we recognize our responsibility to evaluate and monitor BP’s corporate culture and seek assurances from the leadership team that corrective action is being taken when practices or behaviors are not aligned with the company’s culture,” he said.
Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6, is set to step down from BP's board in April, after nine years' service.
