Anglo American Annual Report 2012

Board and Committee meetings – frequency and attendanceIndependentBoard(sixmeetings)Audit(threemeetings)S&SD(fourmeetings)Remuneration(fourmeetings)Nomination(fivemeetings)Sir John Parker N/a All – Three – AllCynthia Carroll No All – All – –René Médori No All – – – –David Challen Yes All All – All AllSir CK Chow Yes All – – All AllSir Philip Hampton Yes Five All – All –Phuthuma Nhleko Yes All All – – –Ray O’Rourke Yes All All All – –Mamphela Ramphele (1) Yes 1/4 – 1/3 – 1/3Anne Stevens (2) Yes All All – – –Jack Thompson Yes All – All All –Peter Woicke Yes All – All All All(1)Meetings attended prior to retirement.(2)Meetings attended since appointment.GovernanceDIVERSITYWe continue to develop the mix ofskills and experience on the Board.During the year, it included threefemale directors (achieving a 27%representation of women on theBoard – excluding the chairman)and comprised individuals withengineering, banking, mining,telecoms, construction and automotivesector backgrounds, hailing fromthe US, UK, South Africa, France,Germany, Ireland and Hong Kong.As the justifiable clamour for diversityon company boards intensifies, thereis a risk that this comes to be seenas a mere compliance issue. It is not.Making sure we utilise all of the talentavailable to us, and fostering a mix ofskills and backgrounds to providechallenge and different perspectivesaround the board table, is all aboutmaking better decisions in the interestsof the Company.As thejustifiableclamour fordiversityon companyboardsintensifies,there is arisk that thiscomes to beseen as a merecomplianceissue. It is not.The following sections of this reportcontain much information detailingour compliance with the Code. WhatI hope is also clear is our commitmentto the spirit of the Code and our beliefthat good corporate governance isgood business – that it is about makingthe best decisions we can, for the rightreasons, in the long term interests ofthe Company.Sir John ParkerChairmanAnglo American plc Annual Report 2012 91