Virgin Money chief’s pay to reach £5m triggering pay row

A pay row is brewing at Virgin Money over the bonuses paid to executive directors, with chief executive David Duffy, the former Clydesdale boss, set to pocket £5.1 million this year, despite the challenger bank reporting a loss and making the decision to drop its dividend.

Virgin Money chief's pay to reach £5m triggering pay row

David Duffy

Proxy group Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has called for investors to vote against the remuneration report at its annual meeting on January 29th.

Mr Duffy’s potential £5.1m payment this year would surpass the pay taken by John Flint, the former chief of HSBC, who obtained £4.6m in 2018.



Mr Duffy’s pay package included £1.2m for salary, cash benefits and pension. He could also earn £3.9m in bonuses if he reaches his targets including raising the Virgin Money share price by 50% over the year.

ISS labelled the overall payment for the year as “excessive”.

Virgin Money posted a pre-tax loss of £232m in the year to the end of September, after taking a £385m provision to cover PPI mis-selling. The bank decided to axe its dividend payout as a result, The Times reports. 

Virgin Money was bought for £1.7 billion in 2018 by Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group, which then rebranded to Virgin Money in October.

Virgin Money said: “Our approach to executive pay is fully aligned to our shareholders’ interests and creating long-term value.”

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