Former AMP chairman Catherine Brenner will retire from the Coca-Cola Amatil board next year, ending a decade at the beverage giant.
Ms Brenner, who last month quit as chairman of the embattled financial services group following the scandals revealed at the banking royal commission, said on Wednesday she will not seek re-election at Coca-Cola Amatil’s 2019 annual general meeting.
The beverage giant’s chairman, Ilana Atlas, says the board had considered Ms Brenner’s position following her decision to leave AMP after it admitted at the royal commission to charging customers for advice they never gave and then lying about it to regulators.
Ms Brenner will continue her role over the next 12 months to allow for an orderly transition as the company looks to appoint a new director either at or before next year’s AGM, Coca-Cola Amatil said.
“It is important for shareholders to know that the board has considered Catherine’s position on this board following her decision to step down from her position as chairman of AMP,” Ms Atlas said at the company’s AGM on Wednesday.
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“Over the next 12 months we will continue to analyse the skills and experience on the board and what we require in the future, to maintain the right mix following Catherine’s retirement.”
Coca-Cola Amatil has previously voiced its support for Ms Brenner, and on Wednesday said she had been committed, hardworking and diligent throughout her term.
Ms Brenner is Coca-Cola Amatil’s longest serving director, and had faced calls from the Australian Shareholders’ Association (ASA) to step down following the fallout at AMP from the royal commission.
She also sits on the board of building products supplier Boral.
AMP could face criminal charges for misleading the regulator and is facing multiple class actions on behalf of investors after its plummeting shares trimmed more than $2 billion off its market value.
Shine Lawyers on Wednesday announced it had secured funding for a potential class action against AMP, following a similar announcement by Maurice Blackburn on Tuesday and the filing of proceedings by two other law firms over the past week.
ASA monitor Roger Ashley said he would have preferred an immediate exit by Ms Brenner, but was pleased with her decision to retire at the end of her term.
“Her judgement has certainly been brought into question at AMP, and whether that makes her an acceptable person to be a director at Coca-Cola Amatil comes into question,” Mr Ashley told AAP.
“I think it should be now rather than then but I think we are just going to have to live with another year.”
