BP 2013 Annual Report Download - page 83

Corporate governance
BP Annual Report and Form 20-F 2013 79
Nomination and chairman’s committees
Chairman’s introduction
I am pleased to report on the two board committees which I chair. Both
have been active during the year in seeking to develop the membership of
the board and its governance.
Nomination committee
Role of the committee
The committee ensures an orderly succession of candidates for directors
and company secretary.
Key tasks
• Identify, evaluate and recommend candidates for appointment or
reappointment as directors.
• Identify, evaluate and recommend candidates for appointment as
company secretary.
• Keep under review the mix of knowledge, skills and experience of the
board to ensure the orderly succession of directors.
• Review the outside directorship/commitments of the non-executive
directors.
Key responsibilities
• Oversee the legal strategy for litigation, investigations and suspension/
debarment actions arising from the accident and its aftermath, including
the strategy connected with settlements and claims.
• Review the environmental work to remediate or mitigate the effects of
the oil spill in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and on the affected
shorelines.
• Oversee management strategy and actions to restore the group’s
reputation in the United States.
• Review compliance with government settlement agreements arising out
of the Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill, including the SEC
Consent Order and the Department of Justice Plea Agreement, in
coordination with other committee and board oversight.
Members
Name Membership status
Ian Davis (chair) Member since July 2010; committee chair since July
2010
Paul Anderson Member since July 2010
Frank Bowman Member since February 2012
George David Member since July 2010
Activities during the year
The committee reviewed plans and progress in moving Gulf Coast
shoreline response activities through to completion and sign-off by the US
Coast Guard. Activities are now complete in all states with the exception of
Louisiana.
The committee continued to oversee numerous legal matters relating to
the Deepwater Horizon accident, including the company’s appeals to the
US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit relating to the Court-Supervised
Settlement Program and the first two phases of trial in MDL-2179.
The committee met thirteen times in 2013.
Committee review
Each year the Gulf of Mexico committee evaluates its performance and
effectiveness. In 2013, the committee again used a questionnaire
administered by external consultants covering the same questions used in
2012 in order to identify trends. Key areas covered included the balance of
skills and experience among its membership, quality and timeliness of
information and support received by the committee, the appropriateness of
committee tasks and how well the committee communicates its activities
and findings to the board. The results of the evaluation were positive.
Specific areas identified for focus in 2014 included maintaining constructive
and challenging engagement with management and of continuing timely
and effective communication of its activities and findings to the board.
GoM committee focus in 2013
Integrated legal strategy including:
•Multi-districtlitigation2179and2185.
•Naturalresourcedamages.
•Suspensionanddebarmentactions.
•Claimsadministration.
•Otherlitigationandinvestigations.
•Responseandremediationactivities.
•Naturalresourcedamagesassessment.
•Restorationprojects.
•DepartmentofJusticepleaagreement.
•SECconsentorder.
•Externalaffairsandcommunityoutreach.
•USgovernmentandmediacommunications.
•Internalcommunications.
•Licencetooperate.
Legal Operational
ComplianceReputation