CPPIB boss resigns after Dubai vaccine trip scandal
The head of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has resigned after admitting that he had taken a trip to Dubai and received a Covid-19 vaccination there.
Mark Machin, 54, received a Pfizer jab after landing in the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, drawing public outcry back home and prompting an emergency board meeting last night.
In a statement, CPPIB said he had tendered his resignation after confirming that he had travelled “personally” to the Middle East, where he received the vaccine. Machin will be replaced by John Graham, a senior managing director who has been at the organisation for 10 years.
The head of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has resigned after admitting that he had taken a trip to Dubai and received a Covid-19 vaccination there.
Mark Machin, 54, received a Pfizer jab after landing in the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, drawing public outcry back home and prompting an emergency board meeting last night.
In a statement, CPPIB said he had tendered his resignation after confirming that he had travelled “personally” to the Middle East, where he received the vaccine. Machin will be replaced by John Graham, a senior managing director who has been at the organisation for 10 years.
The $377bn (£270bn) pension fund, one of the biggest in the world, invests on behalf of about 20m Canadians, and reports to a board of directors picked by the country’s finance minister.
It is also a global heavyweight in property investment, having most recently bought the Trafford Centre in Manchester after shopping mall operator intu went into administration last year.
Although there is no specific ban on Canadians travelling overseas, the government has advised against it during the pandemic, and criticised Machin after reports of his visit to Dubai emerged.
Prior to his resignation, a spokeswoman for the department of finance called the trip “very troubling”. She added: “The federal government has been clear with Canadians that now is not the time to travel abroad. We were not made aware of this travel.”
Machin joined CPPIB in 2012 after a 20-year career at Goldman Sachs, and was appointed as its president and chief executive in 2016. In its statement, CPPIB thanked Machin for his tenure as chief executive, praising him for “outstanding leadership”.
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