Prudential chief turns back on SocGen role

Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam will not be joining SocGen as a non-executive director amid strong shareholder anger at the proposed move.

Thiam had planned on taking up his role at the end of May but Prudential said in a stock market statement today its chief executive will not now be joining the French bank.

The U-turn comes after shareholders reacted furiously to Thiam's decision to work for another company, at a time Prudential is trying to garner shareholder support for the largest rights issue in history to fund its acquisition of AIG's Asian business.

The £23.3bn deal to buy AIA from AIG, which is owned by the US government, marks the largest insurance deal in history.

Some shareholders, however, have expressed concerns that Prudential is paying too much for the Asian business.