ANZ Group’s board faces the prospect of a first shareholder protest vote since directors and the chairman took a blanket 20 per cent pay cut to calm investors six years ago.

Its annual general meeting is slated for next week. Chairman Paul O’Sullivan has been on a listening tour of shareholders and proxy advisers, heard their complaints, read proxy advisers’ subsequent reports and knows ANZ may record an embarrassing strike. He and people and culture committee chair Holly Kramer, a former CEO at retailer Best & Less, even issued four-page responses to two proxy advisers’ negative reports last week.