The UK-court appointed administrators of NMC Health announced the formation of a new board of directors who have been tasked with the implementation of corporate governance changes in the group on a priority basis.

Richard Fleming, Mark Firmin and Ben Cairns of Alvarez & Marsal Europe, were appointed joint administrators of the debt-ridden company by the High Court of England and Wales on April 9, following an application of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB).

As part of the changes to the board, four new non-executive directors with international restructuring experience have been appointed to supervise the management and implement a stronger governance structure in the NMC businesses.

A joint statement from the administrators confirmed that the previous board of directors no longer have decision-making powers and have been removed from the board.

This means that Faisal Belhoul, Ayesha Mohammed, Jonathan Bomford, Patrick James Meade, Salma Ali Saif bin Hareb and Tarek Alnabulsi were removed from the board. Michael Brenden Davis remains in post as interim chief executive officer and chief operating officer, but he will not sit on the board. Simon Watkins remains group company secretary.

“The administrators’ primary objective is to ensure the continuity of patient care, stability for staff and suppliers, and immediate financial security for NMC Plc’s operating companies. The operating entities are unaffected by the administrators’ appointment and current activities will continue at NMC’s hospitals, medical centres, care facilities and other services,” said the statement.

NMC Health, whose current market value is US$2.4bn, has been embroiled in one financial irregularity scandal after another ever since Muddy Waters blew the lid on the state of affairs. The London-listed healthcare provider has a total debt of US6.6bn and several lenders have revealed details of their exposure to the healthcare group and to Finablr, also founded by NMC founder BR Shetty.