RIL shareholders approve appointment of Saudi Aramco Chairman as independent director

Reliance Industries sought the approval of its shareholders to appoint Saudi Aramco chairman Yasir Othman H Al Rumayyan as an independent director of the company. In a late evening filing to BSE, the company stated that 98.03 per cent shareholders voted in favour of his appointment, and 1.96 per cent voted against it. The resolution was passed with a majority on October 19.

“The Company had sought approval of the members of the Company for the appointment of His Excellency Yasir Othman H. Al Rumayyan as an Independent Director of the Company...The said resolution is passed with the requisite majority on October 19, 2021 (the last date fore-voting),” stated the company in a filing.

Earlier RIL had issued a statement to proxy advisory groups in order to address their concerns about the appointment of Saudi Aramco Chairman on the board.

“The appointment of Yasir Al Rummayyan has no connection with the contemplated transaction with Saudi Aramco. Further, as approved by the shareholders, the 02C business of RIL is being spun off to a subsidiary and as per the terms of the proposed transaction, Saudi Aramco will participate in the equity of the 02C subsidiary. The 02C Subsidiary Board may have nominees of Saudi Aramco to protect its interest. Any material change in circumstances at any time which may affect the status of a member of the Board as an Independent Director is reviewed and appropriately acted upon by the HRNR committee. Further, it is a practice in RIL that any director who is deemed interested recuses himself/herself from participating in the relevant agenda item,” the RIL statement said.

The clarification came after California State Teachers' Retirement Fund, a shareholder of the Indian conglomerate, decided to vote against the move based on the recommendation of US proxy advisory research firm Glass Lewis.

RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani had earlier this year announced during the 44th annual general meeting that Al Rumayyan will join the board and begin the “internationalisation of Reliance”.

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