Under siege AMP faces shareholder revolt on board nominees at AGM

Shareholder organisations are mobilising against the proposed re-election of three AMP directors at next month’s AGM.

AMP chairman Catherine Brenner with director Holly Kramer.

​Pressure on the besieged AMP board has intensified, with influential shareholder organisations mobilising against the proposed re-election of three directors at next month’s annual meeting.

The Australian Shareholders’ Association, on behalf of retail investors, has joined with proxy adviser CGI Glass Lewis, in recommending a “no” vote against the re-election of Holly Kramer and Vanessa Wallace.

The ASA, which is undecided on the re-election of Andrew Harmos because he only joined the board last June, castigated the company’s embattled chair Catherine Brenner, saying she should resign immediately or step down pending an independent investigation because her position was “untenable”.

“At the same time AMP must urgently appoint some additional, well-credentialed, untainted people to the board, irrespective of the voting results,” the ASA said.

In a reversal of its position earlier this week, CGI Glass Lewis said it now opposed all three AMP directors, while continuing to support the remuneration report.

AMP (AMP) has been under siege since early last week, when the financial services royal commission heard that the company had tried to cover up its fee-for-no-service scandal by lying to ASIC.

A so-called “independent” report on the scandal by the law firm Clayton Utz was workshopped 25 times with AMP executives, including Ms Brenner and group legal counsel Brian Salter, himself a former Clayton Utz partner.

The company has apologised unreservedly for the misconduct and failures in the regulatory disclosures by its advice business.

Chief executive Craig Meller, who was due to step down by the end of this year, left immediately after a board meeting last Thursday, with Mr Salter sent on leave.

Despite these moves, CGI Glass Lewis said it found the board’s actions and response “deeply concerning and unsatisfactory”.

“Whilst we find the underlying systemic practice of fee-for-no-service concerning, we are particularly troubled by the evidence that the company provided false or misleading statements to the corporate regulator, and that the chair and senior executives influenced the content of a purportedly independent review of the practice,” the proxy adviser said in a report.

“Additionally, the advice culture and compliance committee’s explicit decision not to correct misleading statements made to certain customers affected by the fee-for-no-service practice contradicts the company’s stated cultural values of integrity, help and performance.”

At 1.30pm (AEST), AMP shares were trading flat at $4.06

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