Chemours execs violated code of ethics
7th March 2024
USA: Chemours claims that the members of its senior management placed on administrative leave last week violated its code of ethics and displayed a “lack of transparency” to the company’s board.
President and CEO Mark Newman, CFO Jonathan Lock and principal accounting officer Camela Wisel were placed on administrative leave on February 29 following an anonymous report made to the Chemours ethics hotline.
The refrigerant supplier also announced a delay to its fourth quarter and full year 2023 financial results and its annual report on Form 10-K.
The internal review carried out by Chemours’ audit committee, assisted by an independent outside counsel, has found a “lack of transparency” with the company’s board due to “payables and receivables timing actions” and their effect on free cash flow targets.
Among other things, the audit committee found that the three members of senior management had engaged in efforts in Q4 of 2023 to delay payments to certain vendors until the first quarter of 2024, and to accelerate the collection of receivables not due until Q1 of 2024 into Q4 of 2023.
The audit committee found that the individuals involved engaged in these efforts in part to meet publicly communicated free cash flow targets, and which also would be part of a key metric for determining incentive compensation applicable to executive officers.
It was also determined that similar actions, though to a lesser extent, were taken in Q4 of 2022, resulting in a significant increase in these cash flow measures for the quarter ended December 31, and a decrease in these measures in the first quarter of 2023.
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Chemours places CEO on administrative leave – 29 February 2024
USA: Chemours has placed its president and CEO Mark Newman, CFO Jonathan Lock and principal accounting officer Camela Wisel on administrative leave pending the completion of an internal review. Read more…
