Nissan shareholders to vote in new board, committees

Tokyo

NISSAN Motor Co shareholders will vote in a new board and director committees on Tuesday, decisions that will shape the company's troubled relationship with Renault SA and impact whether the French company revives its deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

The Japanese carmaker's proposed new governance structure is designed to boost oversight and prevent the concentration of corporate power in one individual, seeking to address the lapses that led to the arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn for financial crimes while at the company.

Ghosn's downfall triggered tumult at Nissan. The company reported its lowest profit in a decade last month and has lost a quarter of its market value. Ties with its ally of more than two decades have been strained after Nissan kept the investigation into Ghosn from Renault until his arrest. The alliance has been further tested by Nissan's reluctance to support a merger between the French company and Fiat.

Here are the key points to watch out for at Tuesday's annual shareholders' meeting:

The proposal was thrown into doubt this month, when Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard threa-tened to withhold support for the reforms unless Renault secured more representation within the committees. Renault's 43 per cent stake in Nissan gives it a lot of say because decisions such as board appointments require a two-thirds majority to pass.

Nissan acquiesced and agreed to give Renault more seats, offering Renault chief executive officer Thierry Bollore a place on the audit committee and Mr Senard a position on the nomination committee - key positions at the heart of decision making. The nomination committee will be chaired by Masakazu Toyoda, the lead independent outside director.

Yasushi Kimura, an adviser to oil company JXTG Holdings, will chair the board and Mr Senard will become the vice-chair. Outgoing directors include Nissan veteran Toshiyuki Shiga, who was once Ghosn's right-hand man.

A board with fewer Nissan insiders could potentially take a more benign view on any attempt by Renault to resume deal talks with Fiat. The European carmakers' talks ended in early June after a last-minute intervention by the French government, which suggested the deal was being rushed and that more time was needed to gain Nissan's approval.

The Nissan governance panel decided to recommend that Mr Saikawa stay on mainly because the company needs a certain level of management consistency. BLOOMBERG