After BP PLC (LSE:BP.) parted ways with chief executive Bernard Looney due to a lack of transparency over his relationships with colleagues, it turns out that his replacement is also involved with a member of staff.
Murray Auchincloss was made interim CEO on Tuesday night when the FTSE 100 oil supermajor revealed that Looney was stepping down with immediate effect.
In stock market disclosures from the company, which were first reported by the Times, Auchincloss was said to be “closely associated” with a colleague working in its crude oil trading business.
Under BP’s publicly available code of conduct, personal relationships with colleagues are flagged as a potential conflict of interest, saying “a conflict of interest may occur when your interests or activities affect, or appear to affect, your ability to make objective decisions for BP”.
These situations could include “having an intimate relationship with someone whose pay, advancement or management you can influence”.
A BP spokesperson said that the relationship did not represent a breach of the code of conduct and had been “fully and appropriately disclosed”.
Shares in the company were up 2.5% on Thursday afternoon, having fallen 2.5% on Wednesday.
Looney's sudden resignation has left the oil giant vulnerable to acquisition, according to analysts from Barclays, though any foreign takeover attempts would be likely to face opposition from the UK government under the National Security Investment Act.