The Senior Independent Director (the 'SID') is available to shareholders and members of the Board if they have concerns that have not / cannot be dealt with through normal communication channels.  He provides a sounding board for the Chairperson, as well as support to the Chairperson in delivering his objectives.

He chairs an executive session of the non-executive directors to assess the performance of the Chairperson as part of the annual evaluation of Board performance and takes responsibility for an orderly succession process for the Chairperson working closely with the Nominations and Corporate Governance Committee. He also attends meetings with major shareholders to ensure that there is a balanced understanding of the issues and concerns that they may have.