By Roushni Nair and Byron Kaye
(Reuters) -Macquarie Group, the employer of Australia’s best-paid CEO, said on Thursday it will review its executive compensation following a regulatory compliance lawsuit, as some shareholders prepare to vote against its salary plans at its annual meeting.
Chief Financial Officer Alex Harvey will also retire, the company said, an unexpected development which deprives it of one possible successor to current leader Shemara Wikramanayake who started in 2018.
Shares tumbled as much as 5% in early trade to A$214, their biggest intraday percentage drop in three months, and underperformed a 0.2% gain on the broader benchmark.
Chairman Glenn Stevens said on a media call the non-binding remuneration vote at Thursday’s AGM “does appear to be quite close.”
When asked about potential shareholder opposition, Stevens said: “It was always likely that there were going to be some observers who were going to say ‘you should have gone more one way or the other’. I find it a little bit disappointing how many feel that, but it is what it is and we have to hear that message.”
The vote can be defeated with 25% opposition, and if an Australian company receives two “strikes” in consecutive years, shareholders can hold another vote on whether to dismiss the entire board.
The leadership changes and pay review come as Australia’s corporate regulator ASIC has sued Macquarie, alleging it misreported up to A$1.5 billion worth of short sales over 15 years, misleading the market and violating post-financial crisis transparency rules.
Stevens said Macquarie is focusing on “remediation of regulatory issues, and associated strengthening of the company’s risk culture,” adding that “where shortcomings are identified, the board holds staff accountable, seeks to incentivize future improvement and reflects on what the issue might tell us about the organization’s culture.”
CEO Shemara Wikramanayake earned A$30 million in 2024, making her the highest paid chief executive among ASX 100 companies and the only woman in Australia’s top 20 highest paid executives, according to the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors.
Separately, Macquarie reported a decline in first-quarter net profit due to lower contributions from its asset management arm and commodities and global markets unit. The company did not disclose specific profit figures in its quarterly trading update.
The asset management division experienced softer performance primarily due to timing of investment-related income, while commodities recorded lower net interest and trading income in North American Gas and Power, it added.
(Reporting by Roushni Nair and Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru, Byron Kaye in Sydney; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi & Shri Navaratna)
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