JPMorgan Chase & Co., seeking to recover from a rare investor rebuke last year over how it compensates executives, persuaded a key critic to reverse its stance and support the bank’s practices.
Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. changed this year’s recommendation on Tuesday, suggesting investors cast a “cautionary vote” in favor of the bank’s pay decisions. JPMorgan had written to ISS on Monday citing an error in the adviser’s earlier analysis and asking it to revise its recommendation that shareholders vote against the plan. ISS agreed.
Shareholders of the largest US bank rejected compensation awards to longtime Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and other leaders last year in a non-binding vote. ISS and fellow proxy adviser Glass, Lewis & Co. both recommended investors vote against that proposal, taking particular issue with special bonuses the board awarded Dimon and his top lieutenant, President Daniel Pinto, to ensure they stick around.
JPMorgan’s board wrote in a proxy statement last month that it expanded “outreach and engagement” following last year’s vote. As a result of those conversations, the board has “unequivocally committed” to not grant any future special awards to Dimon, and to include direct performance conditions in any “appropriate and rare” future one-time special awards to others.
Dimon, a billionaire and the longest-serving big bank CEO, was awarded $34.5 million for his work last year, unchanged from his 2021 pay excluding the special award, which was worth more than $50 million. It reflected the board’s desire for Dimon “to continue to lead the firm for a further significant number of years,” according to a filing at the time.
Pinto’s 2022 pay was $28.5 million, also flat with the prior year excluding his own special award, worth more than $25 million. Pinto became JPMorgan’s sole No. 2 last year and is widely seen as the obvious emergency replacement for Dimon.
--With assistance from David Scheer.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.