When The Australian Financial Review revealed that AMP Capital’s new chief executive Boe Pahari had been promoted to the role despite having been sanctioned after the company settled a sexual harassment complaint from a female subordinate, AMP responded by downplaying the severity of Mr Pahari’s misconduct.

The board had reviewed an independent QC-led investigation that had identified a low-level transgression of AMP’s code of conduct, AMP said, for which Mr Pahari had faced appropriate consequences including a significant financial penalty. With the details shrouded in a private settlement, the impression was that relatively minor behavioural lapses had occurred, which may have involved inappropriate remarks. In other words, it was not a hanging offence that should bar Mr Pahari from a top-tier and highly remunerated leadership position.