Glass Lewis, an investor advisory firm, has advised Barclays shareholders to vote against the bank’s executive compensation because of long-term bonuses awarded to its former finance chief during a period when the bank sold billions of pounds of securities in error.
In February, Barclays withheld the pay of its former CFO Tushar Morzaria and its current top executives a total of 1 million pounds ($1.25 million) for the error. However, according to Glass Lewis, the deductions for Morzaria were insufficient.
The proxy adviser objected to long-term awards that vested last year for 2020, according to which Morzaria was rewarded nearly 3 million pounds after deductions, which represented 70% of the potential total pot.
Glass Lewis wrote in its report preceding Barclays’ annual shareholder meeting on May 3: “We believe shareholders could reasonably have expected the committee to further reduce this award to better reflect the financial and reputational impact of the risk and control issues over the period,”
Last year, the British lender paid a $200 million fine to U.S. regulators for “staggering” failings over several years that led to the overselling of $17.7 billion worth of structured products and necessitated the restatement of its financial statements for 2021.
Morzaria, who served as CFO of Barclays from 2014 to April 2022, is currently a non-executive director of insurer Legal & General and oil and gas colossus BP.