French reinsurer SCOR has verified the results of a recent shareholder vote on the level of remuneration received by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Denis Kessler.
The vote was originally held at SCOR’s AGM in April 2019, and was initiated by investment management firm and activist investor CIAM, which also called on shareholders to remove Kessler from SCOR’s Board.
Shareholders voted in favour of the resolutions to approve the level of pay received by Kessler by 54.46% and 54.56%, prompting CIAM to contest the result.
Although SCOR claims to have not received a formal request from CIAM, it has now undertaken a recount in order to verify the result and quash any doubts.
The reinsurer added that it “regrets that the activist fund CIAM continues to cast doubt on the integrity of the SCOR group.”
CIAM’s challenge was the latest move in the bitter exchange that was triggered after the SCOR’s management refused to accept an €8.2 billion takeover bid from Covéa last year.
Catherine Berjal, President of CIAM, has previously accused SCOR of using its remuneration as an ‘anti-takeover policy’, and has levelled a number of criticisms against Kessler and the company’s ‘aggressive’ legal dispute against Covéa.
The firm has also argued that Kessler’s level of pay is unjustifiably higher than his peers in the re/insurance industry and is not aligned with SCOR’s true performance.
Additionally, it claimed that Kessler’s position as both Chairman and CEO of SCOR is not in line with industry best practice and does not encourage other Board members to raise contradictory views.
The vote recount was conducted by BNP Paribas Securities Services on June 18, 2019, in the presence of a judicial officer.
