Council pension funds in Barclays boss payment battle

Council pension funds have urged shareholders in Barclays Bank to block approval of the firm’s remuneration report amid concern over a £5.7m ‘tax equalisation’ payment made to chief executive Bob Diamond.

The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, which represents 50 council funds with around £100bn of assets, has formally issued a voting alert to its members requesting that they reject approval of the report at Barclays AGM on 27 April.

The LAPFF claimed approval of Barclay’s remuneration report was ‘hard to justify given the bank’s poor performance’.

In particular, the tax equalisation payment to Mr Diamond – paid by Barclays to offset the tax implications of the American chief executive’s relocation to the UK – continues to cause concern.

LAPFF chairman, Cllr Ian Greenwood, said: ‘There has been an unprecedented level of interest from our members in the remuneration policy at Barclays this year. We support the position of other investors and investor groups proposing to vote against the remuneration report, in particular due to issues relating to the pay of the chief executive.

‘We believe the company needs a clear signal from shareholders that a different approach is required in future.’