Macquarie to cut cash bonuses

Macquarie Group proposed far-reaching changes to its remuneration policy yesterday, further aligning it with shareholders' interests and bowing to political and public pressure to curb excessive pay packages.

The salient feature is a move towards paying less cash and increasing the profit share component of bonuses when rewarding senior executives. On average, retained overall compensation would increase from 38% to 50%, according to a press statement.

More than 300 of Macquarie's executive directors, including chief executive Nicholas Moore and members of the group's executive committee, would be affected if, as seems likely, the proposal is approved by shareholders at the annual general meeting in July.

The group's board of directors believes that the new...