Prudential’s chief financial officer resigns following conduct investigation

Prudential’s chief financial officer James Turner has resigned in the wake of an investigation into his conduct “relating to a recent recruitment situation”, the FTSE 100 insurer said on Wednesday.

Hong Kong-based Turner, who has held the role for just over a year, will be replaced by Ben Bulmer, chief financial officer of Prudential’s insurance and asset management business, but will remain “available” to the company for four months.

“Prudential set itself high standards and Mr. Turner missed out on this opportunity,” the company said without giving details of the hiring position. The company said Turner will miss out on certain bonus payments that he has not yet received.

Prudential hired an outside law firm this year to investigate Turner’s behavior after red flags were raised through the company’s internal processes, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Turner did not respond to a request for comment.

Prudential chief executive Anil Wadhwani, who started the role in late February, told employees in an email on Wednesday that “our code of conduct sets out that we expect all of our associates to adhere to the highest professional standards and behaviours.” do”, according to a Prudential employee.

Wadhwani said in a statement that Bulmer, who joined the group in 1997, is “a highly experienced finance leader who has developed a deep understanding of our business and markets”.

The group said that Turner’s departure “had no implication for financial performance, reporting or operations of the business”.

Turner, who joined the company in 2010 after a stint as deputy head of compliance at Barclays, resigned from Prudential’s board earlier this year. The company said at the time that many Asia-listed companies did not have a finance chief as a board member.

Prudential has primary listings in London and Hong Kong and is domiciled in the UK, but has moved its senior management to Hong Kong and has business primarily in Asia.

Additional reporting by Ian Smith in London