Indianapolis- WellPoint Inc. Chief Financial Officer David C. Colby agreed to resign immediately after an investigation found he had violated the company's code of conduct, the insurance
company said Thursday.
The announcement comes a day before Executive Vice President Angela Braly takes over the president and CEO titles from Larry Glasscock, who will remain with WellPoint as chairman. Company executives said during a Thursday conference call with analysts that Colby's resignation had nothing to do with the transition.
WellPoint company found the conduct code violation after an investigation with external legal counsel, Glasscock said. Colby was asked to resign. Glasscock said "certain concerns" were
raised recently but declined to elaborate on the violation.
Braly said the company would make no future comment on the resignation, "given the non-business nature of the violation."
Glasscock did say the investigation found no illegal conduct, and "the policy violations were in no way related to the company's performance or financial condition, both of which remain strong."
During the conference call, an analyst asked whether Colby was offered a second chance, since no law was broken. Glasscock said the chief financial officer was treated like any employee.
"We don't have double standards in the company," he said. "We have one set of the code of conduct that applies to everybody, and we have made the decision here consistent with how we have treated other associates who have violated the code."
Glasscock declined to comment on whether the violation was a repeat offense.
Wayne S. DeVeydt was named executive vice president and CFO. He has been senior vice president and chief accounting officer since March 2005.
Braly said DeVeydt joined WellPoint as a potential successor for CFO.
The company has a thorough succession planning process that includes emergency succession plans, according to Glasscock.
"While the timing of this has been very rapid, I believe the company has been very thorough in everything that we have done," Glasscock said. "We feel like we've taken very thorough steps to arrive at the right decision."
WellPoint shares were trading at $82.64 Thursday morning, down 2 percent from Wednesday's closing price of $84.40.
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