Tony Hayward, Former BP Exec, Appointed Glencore Xstrata Interim Chairman

Former BP chief executive Tony Hayward has been appointed the interim chairman of mining and commodities trading giant Glencore Xstrata (LON:GLEN). He begins his duties immediately, the company said Thursday.

Hayward, who resigned from his position at BP in 2010 after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, will replace former chairman John Bond, as a result of a vote on Thursday by company shareholders, the company said Thursday.

The move marks the first return of Hayward, 55, since the huge rig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico three years ago, which claimed 11 lives and is expected to cost BP PLC (NYSE: BP) more than $40 billion in fines, cleanup costs and compensation payments.

Bond, 70, served as Xstrata's chairman since May 2011 and was instrumental in the merger process to create Glencore Xstrata, the world's No. 4 diversified miner. He announced in November he would eventually step down as head of the combined group, but only once the search for a new chairman had been completed.

Prior to his appointment, Hayward served as Glencore Xstrata's senior independent director and deputy chairman. He is also currently CEO of Genel Energy PLC, a small oil company whose main operations are in the Kurdish region of Iraq, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In related news, Glencore Xstrata board director Steve Robson has resigned with immediate effect before the annual general meeting, WSJ reports. A person familiar with the matter told the news outlet that shareholders had also voted against Mr. Robson by proxy ahead of the annual general meeting.