Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) announced on Wednesday that it has appointed Monish Patolawala as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective August 1. Patolawala previously served as CFO of industrial products manufacturer 3M, and had earlier held the CFO role at GE HealthCare and GE Transportation.

The global grain trader, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, has seen its financial reporting under scrutiny since January, when it announced an internal investigation into certain accounting practices and abruptly placed then-CFO and Senior Vice President Vikram Luthar on administrative leave, while naming Ismael Roig as interim successor. In April, the company said Luthar would formally resign in September.

According to the company, Patolawala will oversee global finance and accounting, global business services, global technology, and corporate strategy. The external hire signals that the company, which said in March it was continuing to cooperate with an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the probe that triggered the review of its internal accounting practices — is seeking to turn a new page.

Seth Goldstein, an analyst and equity strategist at Morningstar Research Services, said in emailed responses to questions that handing the financial reins to Patolawala "shows the board wanted to hire an external CFO candidate to start fresh after the accounting issues."

In a separate statement on Wednesday, 3M said Patolawala would formally step down on July 31, noting he would remain through the end of the month to assist with the transition, and that the company has initiated a CFO succession process.

Patolawala, 54, served as CFO of 3M for about four years, according to his LinkedIn profile and securities filings from ADM. During his tenure, he helped St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M complete the spinoff of its health care business, Solventum, and was involved in negotiations over several multibillion-dollar settlements related to the company's roles in and drinking water contamination, Bloomberg reported.

Patolawala also has prior experience dealing with SEC investigations. According to SEC disclosures, last year 3M agreed to pay more than $6.5 million to settle charges that it violated books-and-records and internal control provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The SEC investigation found that a 3M subsidiary in China had funded travel for Chinese government officials to induce them to purchase 3M products. 3M agreed to pay the amount plus prejudgment interest without admitting or denying the findings.

ADM CEO Juan Luciano praised Patolawala's extensive experience and track record of leading global, complex finance and technology organizations in the company's press release, calling him a "great fit" for ADM.

Patolawala himself referenced a personal connection to the company's products in his statement in the press release. Like ADM's former CFO Luthar, he grew up in India. In his statement, he said: "I am honored to join ADM as CFO at such an important time in the company's evolution. Growing up in India, I witnessed severe poverty and hunger firsthand, which is why I am so passionate about ADM's important work of feeding the world, guided by its purpose of unlocking the power of nature to enrich the quality of life."

Patolawala takes over ADM's finances as scrutiny of the company's accounting practices has expanded this year. Goldstein believes accounting issues will likely be the new CFO's top priority.

When ADM announced the investigation in January, it said the probe, led by outside counsel and the board's audit committee, focused on accounting practices for inter-segment transactions within its Nutrition reporting segment. Then, in its 10-K filing in March, the company said it had also received a "voluntary document request" from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) primarily on the same matter, and that the DOJ had issued grand jury subpoenas to certain current and former employees. The filing also stated that the company had identified material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting related to inter-segment sales and had corrected certain so-called "immaterial errors" involving the classification of revenue from internal inter-segment sales.

According to securities filings, Patolawala's initial compensation at ADM will include an annual salary of $1.43 million, a target annual bonus opportunity of $1.92 million, and annual equity awards with a target grant-date value of approximately $6.95 million. He will also receive one-time "make-whole" awards, including a $1.4 million cash incentive paid in January and equity awards with a grant-date value of approximately $10 million vesting in installments over 18 months, along with relocation benefits.

In the first quarter ended March 31, the company reported net earnings attributable to ADM of $729 million, down from $1.17 billion in the same period a year earlier.

An ADM spokesperson said the company had nothing further to add beyond the press release and declined to comment on the status of the government investigations.