Carnwath feels Barclays' shareholders wrath

More than a quarter of the votes cast at Barclays' annual general meeting (AGM) were in opposition to approving the bank's remuneration report for 2011.

Institutional investors flexed their muscles at the AGM, expressing their displeasure at what they saw as out-of-proportion rewards, despite efforts by Barclays chairman, Marcus Agius and the Remuneration Committee's chairman Alison Carnwath, to defuse the issue (see earlier item entitled "Barclays vows to tilt rewards balance towards shareholders").

Votes cast against the remuneration report came from shareholders representing more than 2bn Barclays shares, representing 26.9% of the votes cast.

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Marcus Agius, despite being heckled at the AGM, saw only token resistance to his re-election to the board, with 96.12% of the votes cast being in favour, but Carnwath's re-election saw a much larger protest vote and may raise questions about her ability to remain in the position. Just over one-fifth (20.85%) of the votes cast were opposed to Carnwath's re-election.