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By Tapan Panchal
LONDON--GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.LN) said Thursday that it would
move forward the start date of Philip Hampton as the pharmaceutical
company's new chairman to May 7, rather than Sept. 1 as previously
expected.
Mr. Hampton, the present chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland
Group PLC (RBS.LN), was named as Glaxo's new chairman in September.
He will replace Christopher Gent, who will step down at the annual
general meeting on May 7. Mr. Hampton will first become deputy
chairman on April 1 and then take over as chairman at the end of
the annual meeting.
Mr. Hampton will remain chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland until
Aug. 31, Glaxo said. Glaxo had previously said he might take over
sooner than Sept. 1 if he were released from other commitments.
Mr. Gent, a former chief executive of Vodafone Group PLC who has
been Glaxo's chairman for 10 years, has been under pressure over
the past year amid a series of probes into Glaxo's global
practices.
In September, a Chinese court found the drug maker's local
subsidiary guilty of bribery and fined the company nearly $500
million. Separately, Glaxo has been investigating claims its
employees bribed doctors in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Glaxo has apologized for the Chinese bribery and said it
cooperated fully with investigators. It has said it takes all of
the other allegations seriously, as its investigations
continue.
Write to Tapan Panchal at tapan.panchal@wsj.com
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