Neville Richardson stepped down amid claims by Treasury select committee members that the “super-mutual” deal he masterminded with Mr Anderson triggered a £1.5bn hole in the Co-operative’s balance sheet.
Mr Anderson, the Co-operative’s chief executive at the time, became non-executive director of NFU mutual in 2010.
The insurance firm maintained that it had followed a “very rigorous” process when recruiting David Anderson as a non-director.
In a statement, a spokeswoman said: “It would not be appropriate for us to comment on another organisation’s or individual’s previous activities.
“However, I can reassure you we have a very rigorous process in place when recruiting all Board members and we followed this process when appointing David Anderson to our Board.
“In his capacity as non executive director, David Anderson has provided advice and counsel to the main board of directors of NFUM since 2010. We have no plans to review his appointment.”
The company’s AGM will take place in Stratford-upon-Avon tomorrow.
Last Monday, the Co-operative unveiled a rescue plan in which bondholders would be asked to “bail in” and take out shares in the mutual.
A Conservative MP on the Treasury select committee, Brooks Newark, was reported as saying that Mr Richardson was culpable for the “failings” at Britannia and the Co-operative, suggesting that M&S Bank was “mad” to have recruited him as a non-executive director.
In a statement on his resignation, Mr Richardson said: “Following the ill-informed and inaccurate commentary in the media concerning myself and my departure from the Co-operative Bank and the acquisition of Britannia by the Co–operative Group, this was the right thing to do.”
He added that he would co-operate fully with any probe into the merger and his departure from the mutual two years later.
