ANZ outgoing CEO Shayne Elliott. — Bloomberg
MELBOURNE: ANZ Group Holdings Ltd has withdrawn some more of outgoing chief executive officer Shayne Elliott’s compensation after acknowledging a resolution to grant him stock was likely to be voted down by shareholders at its annual general meeting.
It’ll mean he forgoes about A$2.3mil or about US$1.4mil on top of A$1.1mil he already lost.
The firm scrapped the resolution dealing with pay for the soon-to-retire chief executive just minutes before the opening of its AGM in Melbourne yesterday.
That marked a concession to calls from proxy firms and the nation’s top pension association for Elliott to take a further hit to compensation following a series of scandals in the company’s markets division.
“We received majority support from shareholders to grant our chief executive his long-term variable remuneration, however a substantial proportion of shareholders voted against the resolution,” ANZ chairman Paul O’Sullivan said in a statement.
“In recognition of shareholder views, to limit the impact on the bank and to allow it to move forward, Shayne has decided to forfeit this year’s long-term variable remuneration,” he said.
Proxy firm CGI Glass Lewis had argued that while the bank had cut Elliott’s bonus, it was just 10% of his overall compensation and didn’t include clawbacks which “falls short of adequately addressing the significant issues facing the company”.
“As a board we are listening closely to this feedback, we are deeply respectful of it, and we are committed to taking it into account and moving forward,” O’Sullivan said yesterday.
Shares of ANZ dipped 2.2% yesterday morning in Sydney. The stock is up about 11% this year, underperforming local rivals. — Bloomberg
