Australian lender ANZ Group’s influential proxy advisor, the Institutional Shareholder Services, had advised investors on Thursday to vote against the bank’s executive pay report, signifying it was a second advisor group to do so this week.
CGI Glass Lewis on Monday advised that shareholders should also vote against the report during the annual meeting of ANZ on December 18. Therefore, ANZ did not comment on the ISS report.
ANZ this year stripped Former Chief Executive Shayne Elliott A$13.5 million ($8.9 million) of bonuses, which were paid as part of his compensation package.
ANZ’s annual report indicated that other former executives faced pay and bonus reductions in sweeping cuts worth about $A32 million.
An ISS report suggested that although part of the remuneration was removed from Elliott and the other executives, the reductions may have been stiffer considering the ANZ’s series of scandals.
It reported that Elliott had approximately A$7.9 million worth of long-term incentive pay remaining following the cutbacks. Proxy advisors are regarded to be influential in Australia, as the majority of the major institutional investors abide by their recommendations during meetings held by the companies.
The second vote against the ANZ remuneration report would be the second vote within two years, and this implies that the shareholders may vote to re-elect the directors of the company.
Therefore, the ISS and CGI Glass Lewis did not encourage shareholders to vote in favor of a spill-the-board action.
ANZ accepted a payment of A$240 million in September, the biggest-ever fines against a single entity by the Australian corporate regulator, due to systemic failures comprising acting “unconscionably” in a government bond deal to charging dead customers.
