Westpac hit with protest vote against exec pay plans: report

The Australian lender faces paying up to $81m for charging fees to dead people.

Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp was hit with a “first strike” vote against executive pay plans at its annual general meeting, with close to 30% of shareholders voting against the bank’s pay plans, according to a report by Reuters.

This comes just weeks after it is reported that Westpac faces paying around $81m (A$113m) due to alleged compliance failures. This includes reportedly charging advice fees amounting to around $7.2m to over 10,000 deceased people, according to cases filed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

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Close to 30% of shareholders voted against the bank's pay plans. Under Australian company law, another vote of more than 25% next year would trigger a vote on whether to fire the entire board.

In the annual meeting, Chairman John McFarlane also apologized for the sharp decline of the bank’s share price.

McFarlane also said that Westpac would begin making succession plans for its chief executive.

Here’s more from Reuters.