Macquarie Group has reduced the share of profits paid to key senior leaders including chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake, citing accountability for regulatory matters, after the bank also faced an investor backlash on executive pay last year.
The bank known as the “millionaires factory” on Friday released its full-year results, which showed its full-year profits surged 30 per cent to $4.8 billion, after a bumper six months to September.
Macquarie also published details of senior executives’ pay through its annual report, which showed Wikramanayake was awarded $26.5 million for the year – the majority of which was “profit share.”
The company said Wikramanayake’s fixed pay had remained unchanged at $1.5 million, and it had reduced Wikramanayake’s profit share allocation by 25 per cent, to $21 million. Wikramanayake’s pay also included $4 million in performance share units.
While Wikramanayake’s profit share was reduced, her overall pay of $26.5 million was higher than the $24 million she earned last year.
The annual report also said the bank had lowered the profit share allocation of the Macquarie Bank chief executive Stuart Green, and the allocations of five other senior executives had also been reduced to reflect “proportional accountability and responsibility for relevant risk and regulatory matters in which their groups were involved.” Green was awarded $8.4 million in pay.
The decisions come after Macquarie last year copped a historic “first strike” on pay – when more than 25 per cent of investors vote against the remuneration report.
During the year, Macquarie was also sued by the corporate watchdog for allegedly failing to properly report at least 73 million short sales over 15 years. It also agreed to compensate victims of the collapsed Shield Master Fund after financial planners used Macquarie’s platform to put people’s super savings into the scheme.
“The Board acknowledges the reputational and financial impact of risk and regulatory matters arising during the year including the short-sale transaction reporting and Shield Master Fund matters and the accountability of the CEO and relevant Executive Committee members for these shortcomings, as reflected in remuneration outcomes,” Macquarie’s annual report said.
More to come
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Clancy Yeates is deputy business editor. He has covered banking and financial services, and was previously national business correspondent in the Canberra bureau.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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