Dutch telco services firm KPN has withdrawn its job offer to its chosen chief executive officer after a police insider trading investigation was recently launched against her, as reported by IT Europa .
Dominique Leroy, CEO of Belgium's Proximus, was named as KPN’s new CEO earlier this month. But since then, Belgian authorities have launched an investigation into her sale of around €300,000-worth of Proximus shares in early August, at a time when she was in talks with KPN about joining.
There are separate financial conduct authority and police investigations into her trade. Leroy has denied any insider trading and has argued that she had not decided to leave Proximus at the time of the transaction. She has however regretted the “perception” around the trade, which has arisen following her decision to leave Proximus and join KPN.
In reporting its change of mind in appointing Leroy, KPN said it was unsure about how long the investigations would last and that it “considers these uncertainties around timing not in the interest of KPN and its stakeholders”.
Duco Sickinghe, KPN chairman, said it had been “a difficult decision for the supervisory board given the track record of Dominique Leroy as a very accomplished executive”.
The Belgian government owns a majority stake in Proximus and there has been controversy around 2,000 job losses announced at the company under Leroy's watch.
She wasn't due to leave Proximus until the end of November, before joining KPN on 1 December, but unions at Proximus complained that Leroy could take trade secrets gleaned through the notice period with her. And then the police investigation was recently launched following the one begun by the Belgian financial authorities. Instead, Leroy left this month.
Former KPN CEO Maximo Ibarra left the firm to join Sky Italia this summer after only one year in the job, and now KPN has to find a second replacement. Joost Farwerck, KPN chief operating officer, who has been with KPN since 1994, has become temporary chairman of the management board to provide wider leadership during that search.
