ADM says top compliance officer is leaving the company

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co’s chief compliance officer, Ben Bard, is leaving the company early next year for personal reasons, the company said on Wednesday.

The news comes one day after the global grain trader, which has been embroiled in controversy over its accounting practices, sought an extension from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to file its third quarter financial report because it could not meet the deadline.

Accounting irregularities have sparked several government investigations and led to the departure of CFO Vikram Luthar in September.

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The accounting problems also forced the company to correct six years of financial data earlier this year after an internal probe found sales between its nutrition business and other core units were not recorded properly.

On Wednesday, company spokesperson Jackie Anderson told Reuters that Bard was leaving the company for personal reasons and “to make any other assumption is factually inaccurate. … His leadership will be greatly missed.”

ADM has tried to assuage investor concerns by testing new internal controls and naming 3M’s Monish Patolawala as its new chief financial officer. Earlier this month, ADM’s board of directors elected AT&T Inc’s general counsel, David R. McAtee II, to its board.

Bard has over 25 years of legal, compliance and risk management experience, according to ADM’s website.

Prior to joining ADM in 2014, he worked at Coca-Cola Co. as senior anti-corruption and trade sanctions compliance counsel among other roles.

— Additional reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru