Liking to say Yes
IN THE wonderful world of corporate gov- ernance, as charted by Sir Adrian Cadbury, no company is more correct that TSB. It complies with 17 of his 19 recommenda- tions and will comply with the other two when somebody explains them. The board is duly kitted out with a remuneration com- mittee, which has reviewed the pay of the chairman, Sir Nicholas Goodison, and given him a £45,000 increase in his basic salary, to take effect this year. (He got £274,070 last year.) The increase, says a note in TSB's accounts, reflects the major contribution he has made to the group's affairs since 1989. The accounts show that shareholders' funds stood at 11,853 million in 1989 and are now £83 million less. TSB is doing more towards its chairman's pension. It used to pay 221/2 per cent of his salary into a personal retirement plan, but has now raised the ceiling to 31.67 per cent. He is not (say the accounts) in any scheme for bonuses or profit-sharing. To console him, he was granted options on 119,076 shares last year, and they now stand him in at a profit just short of £100,000. The commit- tee that blessed these arrangements is chaired by Sir David Plastow, who was on the remuneration committee of Guinness when the previous chairman was voted his half-a-million a year pension and must be a useful director to have around. Nothing could be more Cadbuarially correct.
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