Annual General Meeting − Address to shareholders
19 April, 2012
Anglo American plc held its Annual General Meeting for shareholders in London today. Sir John Parker, Chairman, and Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive, made the following remarks:
Sir John Parker, Chairman, Anglo American plc:
Good afternoon, everyone. Many of you, I know, have travelled a long way. I also see that we have here with us today interest groups from as far afield as Alaska and South Africa. May I extend a warm welcome to you all.
GOVERNANCE
In opening my address this morning, I should like to say a few words about the governance of your company and what your Board has been doing to promote the long-term success of the company for all of its stakeholders.
The Board owns the strategy and its role encompasses the establishment, review and monitoring of strategic objectives. This includes taking a balanced and disciplined approach to capital management; the approval of major acquisitions, disposals and capital expenditure; and overseeing the company’s systems of governance, internal control and risk management. It is also part of the Board’s remit to approve business plans, budgets and all material expenditure.
But to do its job properly, any board has to have an appropriate set of skills and experience to challenge and stress-test its company’s strategy. Since I became your Chairman some two and a half years ago, I have endeavoured, therefore, to ensure that your Board is a strong and influential one, while being reflective of a constantly changing business environment.
In terms of enhancing the Board’s contribution to our affairs, during the year Anglo American’s directors and the company’s most senior executives participated in an internal strategy forum spanning nearly two days. I also reported back to the Board on its performance against the objectives set in an internally facilitated Board-effectiveness review conducted the previous year. In addition, I commissioned an external effectiveness review of the Board and its various committees; the results of that review will be detailed in the 2012 annual report.
At the AGM in 2011, the Board also became an ‘early mover’ in adopting the idea of annual reelection of directors as part of our commitment to setting the tone of the company’s governance from the very top. We also reiterated our objective to increase the representation of women on the Board from 20 per cent to 30 per cent by 2013 (excluding the chairman).
I should like to thank all the members of the Board team collectively for their contribution to Board debates, as well as those individuals who are doing such sterling service on the Board’s important committees.
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