Putting a lord on the board is nothing new. Indeed, there is a long-standing tradition of British blue-bloods gracing a company with the cachet and - supposed - respectability associated with an aristocratic name. The latest group to mine this seam is the Russian companies flooding to London to list on the stock market. A score of peers, including former cabinet ministers such as Lord Lamont, the former chancellor of the exchequer, Lord Robertson, a former defence secretary and ex-head of Nato, have recently popped up on the boards of Russian banks and energy and mining companies.
UK corporate governance activists are beginning to take a dim view of such matters. One warned that peers faced considerable risks if they didn't make thorough checks on the companies they were joining, citing examples of prominent people who signed up only to find themselves associated with companies that ran into difficulties.
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