BP Removes Chairman Albert Manifold Over “Serious” Governance Concerns
BP’s board removed Chairman Albert Manifold with immediate effect today after “serious” concerns were raised about “important governance standards, oversight and conduct”, the company said in a statement. The unexpected exit drove BP shares down 4% to 529p, the second-biggest faller in the FTSE 100. The board did not disclose further detail on the nature of the concerns. The departure comes at a critical moment for the oil major: Brent volatility has been the dominant macro variable for BP’s earnings throughout the war; BP’s Q1 earnings beat last month depended on the elevated oil price; and the chairman question now intersects directly with the corporate-governance side of the supply-shock.
Manifold was appointed BP chairman in 2024 after a long career running CRH, the Irish-headquartered building materials group. The “serious” concerns framing in the BP statement is unusually explicit for a UK corporate-governance exit and signals the board has taken legal advice before making the announcement. The BP situation lands into a regulatory environment that has been progressively tightened post-FCA Capital Markets Industry Taskforce review: governance-standards disclosure requirements for FTSE 100 boards are materially stronger than they were a year ago. BP’s investor base will look to the senior independent director and the company-secretarial chain for the next signalling on succession. Shell’s share-price strength on the same day — up on the higher oil price — underlines how oil-sector valuations now sit at the intersection of geopolitics and corporate governance.