Sutherland declared Libyan conflict of interest at LSE meeting

13 March 2011

By Kathleen Barrington

Peter Sutherland, the banker and chairman of the London School of Economics, declared a conflict of interest at the LSE council meeting which decided to accept £1.5 million from a charity headed by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
LSE records show Sutherland took no further role in that part of the June 2009 meeting, where it was agreed to accept the donation from the Gaddafi International and Development Foundation, Sutherland’s spokesman said.
Sutherland’s conflict was that British Petroleum had signed an oil deal with Libya two years previously, at a time when Sutherland was chairman of the British oil giant.
He found himself caught up in the Libyan upheaval after it emerged that the LSE had accepted the first £300,000 of a promised £1.5 million donation from the foundation, spread over five years.
Sutherland last week accepted the resignation of Howard Davies as director of the LSE.
Davies, who is a former chairman of the Financial Services Authority, Britain’s single financial regulator since 1998, resigned after admitting that accepting the donation was a mistake which had damaged the reputation of the LSE.
Sutherland has set up an independent inquiry to establish the full facts of the LSE’s links with Libya, to ascertain whether errors have been made, and to establish guidelines for international donations to, and links with, the LSE.
When asked last week whether he thought Gaddafi should stay or go as Libyan leader, Sutherland declined to comment.

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