FirstRand chair rages against government’s populist policies
In FirstRand’s annual report, chair Roger Jardine delves into the issues of inequality, rages against the government’s populist policies, and speaks of the land debate
Why does SA remain such an unequal country 24 years after democracy?" asks FirstRand chair Roger Jardine at the beginning of an integrated annual report that goes on to hint at part of the answer. The 18-page remuneration committee section in the 2018 report details the eye-watering amounts of money awarded to the top executives of the country’s biggest bank by market capitalisation. Without making any connection, Jardine notes that SA’s Gini co-efficient, which measures the level of inequality in a country, stands at 0.68 and "makes us one of the most unequal countries in the world". From the remuneration committee we learn that outgoing CEO Johan Burger’s "total reward" for the year was R57m. His replacement, Alan Pullinger, got R45.3m; CFO Harry Kellan’s "total reward" was R26.4m; James Formby, head of merchant banking arm RMB, pulled in R35.3m; FNB CEO Jacques Celliers’ award was R33.9m; and Chris de Kock, head of WesBank, got R22.3m. The broader concern is that, given the pract...
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