New chairman Simon Murray says negative publicity is the fault of Lord Browne
Glencore’s new chairman Simon Murray has hit back at criticism of the company’s approach to corporate governance.
The former Vodafone board member says he has not seen any evidence of poor governance practices at Glencore, which is set to undertake London’s biggest ever listing this May.
Murray blames negative publicity on Lord Browne, who missed out on the chairman’s job in contentious circumstances last week.
‘It’s a private company but just because you’re private it doesn’t mean you don’t have good corporate governance,’ he tells the Daily Telegraph. ‘You tell me something – what have you heard that’s negative, apart from Lord Browne?’
Last week, the BBC reported that Lord Browne had been appointed as Glencore’s new chairman, citing people close to the situation.
Later that day, however, the broadcaster reported that Browne would, in fact, not become chairman, as he and Glencore had fallen out at the last minute over ‘governance issues’.
At the time, Glencore responded by saying it had decided late on that Browne wasn’t the right man for the job.
‘I think that corporate governance remark was a little bit unnecessary, without foundation and a tiny little bit snide, if I may say so, and I think that’s a pity,’ Murray continues in the Daily Telegraph.
