Standard Chartered boss ‘to take pay cut’ after investor revolt
The boss of Standard Chartered is reportedly planning to take a pay cut in an effort to pull the curtain down on one of the firm’s largest corporate fallouts in recent years.
Chief executive Bill Winters is preparing to accept a voluntary cut in pay following a shareholder rebellion over the bank’s remuneration policy, according to the FT.
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In May 36 per cent of shareholders voted against a pay package for Winters that gave him a pension allowance of £474,000, which was 40 per cent of his cash salary.
Proxy Insight said that the vote was the biggest rebellion against a bank in five years.
Winters branded investors that had focussed on his pension allowance “immature and unhelpful”, sparking a backlash among shareholders.
Last year Winters was paid almost £6m.
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The row over the pension contribution, which marks the largest for the chief executive of any of the big UK bank, underlines current corporate tensions over the pay issue.
The Investment Association has ratcheted up the pressure on several heavyweight financial firms in recent months on the topic of pension schemes.