The external committee tasked with improving governance at Nissan Motor believes the Japanese automaker can deepen ties with Renault without overhauling the broader alliance agreed nearly 20 years ago, a Reuters source said.
At the committee's latest meeting held late last week, members were at a "near consensus" to recommend stronger roles for outside directors and establishing committees for board member nominations, auditing and determining executive pay, the source told Reuters.
Final recommendations have yet to be announced. A spokeswoman for the committee declined to comment to the news agency on the discussions.
The partnership is being reviewed to create a more equal footing and avoid the total power wielded by ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn before his November arrest in Japan on financial misconduct charges, the report noted.
Last week, Nissan, Renault and junior partner Mitsubishi Motors established a new joint board comprising separate executives of all three automakers to oversee operations and governance, dismantling the previous structure which in practice had placed control of the alliance with Ghosn.
Executives at all three automakers said the new structure was not intended to replace or change their master agreement which was drawn up in 2002 and gives biggest stakeholder Renault the right to appoint Nissan executives and directors.
The external committee tasked by Nissan to propose ways to bolster the firm's corporate governance said on Sunday it would announce its final recommendations on 27 March, Reuters added.
