Nissan Scraps “Office of the CEO” Team

Nissan Motor Co. has dismantled an inner group of senior staffers that supported its CEO, Bloomberg News reports.

The so-called Office of the CEO had been sharply criticized by a special corporate governance committee convened in the wake of last November’s arrest of former CEO and then-Chairman Carlos Ghosn on charges of financial misconduct.

The panel issued recommendations on March 27 that urged Nissan to alter the scope and purpose of the office. Bloomberg says the committee concluded that the office functioned as a powerful cabinet and made it difficult for Nissan to detect misconduct at its most senior management levels.

A source tells Bloomberg that Nissan abolished the Office of the CEO on April 1.

The team was last headed by Hari Nada, a Nissan senior vice president who is cooperating with prosecutors as they investigate Ghosn. Greg Kelly, who also was arrested in November on suspicion that he aided Ghosn’s alleged financial misdeeds, formerly headed the office.