BBC chairman Richard Sharp resigned on Friday after a report found he broke the rules by failing to disclose the role he played in helping former British prime minister Boris Johnson secure an 800,000-pounds loan.

The 67-year-old former Goldman Sachs banker, who has been the chairman of the UK taxpayer-funded licence fee-backed British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), said the investigation found he had breached the governance code for public appointments.

The independent review, led by barrister Adam Heppinstall, looked at Sharp’s appointment and his involvement in facilitating an 800,000-pound loan guarantee for Johnson - just weeks before the former prime minister appointed him.

“Mr Heppinstall’s view is that while I did breach the governance code for public appointments, he states that a breach does not necessarily invalidate an appointment,” Sharp said in a statement.

“Indeed, I have always maintained the breach was inadvertent and not material, which the facts he lays out substantiate… Nevertheless, I have decided that it is right to prioritise the interests of the BBC. I feel that this matter may well be a distraction from the Corporation’s good work were I to remain in post until the end of my term. I have therefore this morning resigned as BBC Chair to the Secretary of State, and to the Board,” he said.

“To chair this incredible organisation has been an honour,” he added.

Heppinstall was appointed by the UK’s Commissioner of Public Appointments to investigate claims which appeared in ‘The Sunday Times’ newspaper.

 Sharp said the report finds he did not play “any part whatsoever in the facilitation, arrangement, or financing of a loan for the former Prime Minister”.       But he said with hindsight he should have disclosed his role in setting up a meeting between UK Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Sam Blyth – a businessman who was offering the then Prime Minister financial help – to the appointments panel during the scrutiny process ahead of him taking up the senior role at the 100-year-old public broadcaster.

He admitted not doing so was an “oversight” and apologised for it.