The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Jan. 5, edition that Endeavour Mining has fired its chief executive officer, Sebastien de Montessus, alleging he engaged in "serious misconduct" around an "irregular payment" concerning an M&A transaction. The Globe's Niall McGee and David Milstead write that Endeavour said in a statement on Thursday that the payment Mr. de Montessus allegedly misdirected was $5.9-million (U.S.) and related to the sale of an asset. The payment was uncovered in a review by the board of the company's past mergers and acquisitions transactions. That review is continuing, the company said. Mr. de Montessus wrote in a statement to The Globe in 2021 he instructed a creditor to pay for essential security equipment for employees in a conflict zone as an offset for an amount owed to Endeavour. He said, "The decision had no additional cost to the company and did not benefit me personally in any way." He added, "I omitted to inform the board that I had arranged for this offset, which I have freely accepted was a lapse in judgement." Mr. de Montessus said he was given 48 hours notice of Endeavour's concerns around the payment, and "no proper opportunity to answer them."