bp dismissed former chief Bernard Looney for failing to disclose past relationships with colleagues, meaning he will lose out on £32.4 million in pay, share awards and cash bonuses.

Following a three month review after Mr Looney resigned in September, admitting he had not been "fully transparent" with the board of directors, Mr Looney has been formally fired. This means Mr Looney's 12-month notice period ended today with immediate effect.

“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 will receive no further salary, pension allowance or other benefits and he will not be paid any annual bonus in respect of the financial year 2023. He will also be required to repay half of the cash portion of his annual bonus for the 2022 financial year – totalling £420,000 – and a portion of his share awards that vested in August 2023 from a performance incentive plan covering the years from 2020 to 2022.

The board received a first set of allegations about Mr Looney’s conduct in May 2022, after which he acknowledged "a small number of historical relationships" with colleagues prior to becoming chief executive in 2020. He also assured the board in writing that there was nothing further to disclose.

The most recent allegations were made in September by a female bp whistleblower who identified further past relationships that were not previously disclosed. At that time, the board launched an investigation into the allegations with the support of external counsel and said it would take a decision about Mr Looney's remuneration at a later date.

bp said 87% of the £32.4m had been “automatically forfeited” when Mr Looney resigned, but 10% was related to the board’s decision that his misconduct was serious enough to justify firing him. A further 3% is being clawed back at the board’s discretion.

Original article.

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