CORPORATE governance activist Pirc is urging Prudential shareholders to vote against the re-election of Tidjane Thiam as a director at the annual meeting.

Mr Thiam was censured by the Financial Services Authority in March after Prudential was fined £30 million for two regulatory breaches relating to its aborted £23 billion acquisition of Asia-based AIA three years ago. The deal was pulled after strong opposition from shareholders, triggering a £153m break fee and costs to the Pru of £377m.

Mr Thiam failed to give the regulator advance warning of an acquisition which had "the potential to impact on the stability and confidence of the financial system in the UK and abroad".

The FSA stopped short of calling for Mr Thiam's dismissal, by ruling that it "made no finding of lack of fitness and propriety" and that the breach of the rules was not intentional.

However, it dismissed Mr Thiam's claim that he was not personally culpable and that the case against him was "unwarranted".

Pirc told its shareholders: "That failed deal in itself would raise serious concerns about judgment of the CEO and the board. However, the regulatory breaches take those concerns to another level.

"The regulatory breaches relate to matters involving the CEO himself in a meeting where the information should have been but was not disclosed, and involving Prudential failing to follow the advice of the company sponsor to disclose the proposed acquisition to the UKLA at an early stage."

It concludes: "In Pirc's opinion, any doubt about the suitability of Mr Thiam to continue in office as a result of the decision to acquire, were then reinforced by the regulatory breaches."