Business

Former BP boss, Irishman Bernard Looney, to forfeit £32.4m after ‘serious misconduct’

Oil group says it has ‘dismissed’ ex-chief for failing to disclose past relationships with colleagues

Bernard Looney resigned in September after BP received allegations about his past relationships with colleagues, and he admitted he had not been 'fully transparent' with the board. Photograph: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg

Tom Wilson
David Sheppard
Wed Dec 13 2023 - 17:24

BP said its former chief executive, Kerryman Bernard Looney, will forfeit up to £32.4 million (€37.6 million) over “serious misconduct” related to failing to disclose past relationships with colleagues.

“Following careful consideration, the board has concluded that, in providing inaccurate and incomplete assurances in July 2022, Mr Looney knowingly misled the board,” BP said in a statement.

“The board has determined that this amounts to serious misconduct, and as such Mr Looney has been dismissed without notice effective on 13 December 2023.” Mr Looney resigned in September after BP received allegations about his past relationships with colleagues, and he admitted he had not been “fully transparent” with the board, led by chair Helge Lund.

At the time, the board said it had begun an investigation into the allegations with the support of external counsel and would take a decision about his remuneration at a later date.

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BP’s decision to fire him three months after his resignation has “the effect of bringing Mr Looney’s 12-month notice period to an immediate end”, the oil group said.

BP said the maximum £32.4 million Mr Looney will forfeit primarily consisted of unvested share awards and almost £1 million that he would have to return to the company under a “discretionary clawback”.

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Eighty-seven per cent of the total had been “automatically forfeited” when Mr Looney resigned, BP said, but 10 per cent was related to the board’s decision that his misconduct was serious enough to justify firing him, while 3 per cent was being clawed back at the board’s discretion.

BP said the clawback of awards given to Mr Looney covered the period from July 2022 when the company said he had given “misleading assurances” to the board that he had disclosed all past relationships with employees.

The board received a first set of allegations about Mr Looney’s conduct in May 2022, after which he acknowledged four past relationships with colleagues and assured the board in writing he had nothing further to disclose, the Financial Times has reported.

The most recent allegations were made in September by a female BP whistleblower and identified further relationships that Looney had not previously disclosed.

BP said the clawback reflected “the decision by the board that Mr Looney should not retain any variable pay relating to service following the date of the misleading assurances”. A spokesperson for Mr Looney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2023

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