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LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - A group of British publicsector pension funds has heaped pressure on Barclays ahead of its annual general meeting by saying it has governanceconcerns over the company's search for a new chairman.
That could add even more spice to Thursday's meeting asinvestors are asked to approve the bank's plan to increase thestaff bonus pool by 10 percent even though 2013 profitsfell.
The furore that plan initially caused had already promptedthe replacement of the head of its remuneration committee, JohnSunderland. As a result, his role in leading the search for anew company chairman was inappropriate, the Local AuthorityPension Fund Forum (LAPFF) said on Wednesday.
"How can it be appropriate for him to lead the selection ofBarclays' new Chair to replace Sir David Walker?" the LAPFF,whose 60 members collectively manage more than 120 billionpounds ($201.34 billion) in assets, said in a statement.
"There have been significant concerns expressed by LAPFFover governance and executive remuneration at Barclays for sometime now. It appears that a continuing series of no votes byinstitutional shareholders is one of the few options open formeaningful engagement at Barclays."
Earlier this month Pirc, a shareholder advisory group, toldinvestors they should oppose Barclays' bonus payouts for lastyear, as well as its controversial plan to make extra paymentsto staff.
On Tuesday British business minister Vince Cable singled outthe Barclays as he warned that companies must rein in "excessiveand disproportionate" executive pay or face tighter regulation. ($1 = 0.5960 British Pounds) (Reporting by Simon Jessop and Jemima Kelly; Editing by DavidGoodman)
