BHP says Westpac chair Lindsay Maxsted to leave its board

Lindsay Maxsted will not stand for re-election as a director at BHP, months after he brought forward his retirement as chairman of Westpac after a money-laundering scandal rocked the nation’s oldest lender.

Maxsted will remain a member of the BHP board and stay on the risk and audit committee of the world’s biggest miner until his departure at or before its 2020 annual general meetings, BHP said in a statement on Tuesday morning, citing a “nine-year tenure guideline” for its succession planning.

The announcement comes less than two months after the money-laundering scandal engulfing Westpac in November forced the bank’s chief executive officer Brian Hartzer to resign, with Mr Maxsted agreeing to step down from the chair this year.

More to come…