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Barclays shuffles board to calm anger over pay [Cape Times (South Africa)](Cape Times (South Africa) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Barclays, Britain's second-largest bank, has moved to appease investor anger over pay by replacing John Sunderland as lead director responsible for employee compensation. Crawford Gillies, a director of Standard Life, would join the bank's compensation committee on May 1 and would become chairman to oversee pay at a date to be agreed, Barclays said yesterday. Sunderland is leading the bank's search to replace chairman David Walker. Chief executive Antony Jenkins is set to face investors at a meeting next Thursday after the bank dedicated a larger portion of investment banking revenue to pay employees last year while struggling to make progress on a profitability target. It is seeking shareholder backing to award bonuses twice as much as basic pay, as it is required to do under EU rules that start this year. The UK's Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, which advises funds with £125 billion (R2.2 trillion) of assets, called on shareholders last month to oppose Barclays's pay plans because of the "awful performance" of its investment bank. "This is the right thing for the Barclays board to have done", because Sunderland "has been central to Barclays getting to where it is today and Barclays epitomises all that has been wrong with the bonus culture in banking", Kieran Quinn, the chairman of the forum, said yesterday. Return on average equity at the securities unit fell to 8.2 percent last year from 13 percent in 2012, well below Jenkins's target of reaching at least 11 percent next year. Compensation as a proportion of investment banking revenue rose to 43.2 percent in 2013 from about 40 percent the previous year. That is short of the 35 percent target Jenkins set for next year. Gillies spent more than 20 years with management consulting firm Bain & Company, where he was a managing director from 2001 to 2005, advising firms in the UK, Europe and North America. At the UK's Department of Trade and Industry, Gillies led the audit and risk committee from 2003 until 2007. He joined the board of Standard Life in 2007 and has chaired its remuneration panel. "He brings immense experience in a range of different industries, including the financial services sector, in addition to a background in strategy and the public sector," Walker said. - Bloomberg Cape Times (c) 2014 Independent Newspapers (Pty) Limited. All rights strictly reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |