FILE PHOTO: Old Mutual offices in Cape Town. Old Mutual's interim chief executive Iain Williamson said on Tuesday the group had prioritized the interests of all its stakeholders.

JOHANNESBURG  - Old Mutual's interim chief executive Iain Williamson said on Tuesday the pan-African investment, insurance and banking group had prioritized the interests of all its stakeholders when changing its executive leadership.

Old Mutual confirmed that Williamson would continue as acting chief executive until the appointment of a permanent CEO after the company terminated the contract of Peter Moyo.

"The interests of all our stakeholders have been paramount throughout this process and Old Mutual's business operations on the ground remain unaffected," Williamson said.

"The company indeed continues to make solid progress in meeting its targets through continued management focus and an unrelenting commitment to putting our customers first."

Old Mutual's board suspended Moyo on May 23 after it concluded there had been a material breakdown in trust and confidence. Chairman Trevor Manuel said this followed prior engagements with Moyo over concerns about how a conflict of interest had been managed in relation to his investments in the NMT group of companies.

Prior to joining Old Mutual, Moyo served as chief executive of investment firm NMT for a number of years and represented the company in various group company boards.

"There is a duty on directors of all institutions to be vigilant regarding the management of conflicts of interest. The importance of this duty has been highlighted by a number of recent corporate governance breakdowns within both the private and public sector," Manuel said.

Old Mutual said Moyo's conflicting interest was declared upon his employment and was governed by a specific protocol.

The company's board however said it had not been provided with an acceptable explanation for the declaration of ordinary dividends by NMT Capital during 2018 in the amount of R115 million, with a resultant benefit to Moyo of R30.6 million, in breach of Old Mutual's rights as preference shareholder. 

- African News Agency (ANA)