THE WHAT? Unilever India has announced it is to separate the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective 31 March, in a bid to boost governance standards, according to a report by Bloomberg. 

THE DETAILS Following the split, Nitin Paranjpe, currently Chief Operating Officer of Unilever, will be taking over as Non-Executive Chairman of the Indian unit, with Sanjiv Mehta continuing as Chief Executive and Managing Director. 

The Securities and Exchange Board of India made the splitting of the two roles voluntary earlier this month, following the top 500 local companies failing to achieve the right compliance. 

Unilever is amongst the few that have taken the step, with many larger Indian corporations citing difficulties in actioning the measure.  

THE WHY? SEBI first announced rules regarding the separation of Chairman, CEO and Managing Director roles in 2018. 

This deadline was then extended from April 2020 to April 2022, however, as of December 2021 only 54 percent of firms had complied, according to the regulator.