Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has advised Metro Bank investors to vote against the lender's pay report at its annual meeting on 2 June, citing a bonus scheme that could award chief executive Dan Frumkin up to £60m. The proxy adviser described the scheme as 'significantly out of line' with market standards.
The concerns focus on Metro's 'shareholder value alignment plan' (SVAP), which links executive payouts to the bank's share price, regardless of management performance. ISS noted that Frumkin's fixed pay is set to rise 11.3% to £1.05m in 2026, following a 20% increase in 2024, which it deemed 'relatively high for a company of this size in the FTSE 250'.
Frumkin's total pay package more than doubled to £2.6m for 2025, the highest for a Metro CEO since the bank's founding in 2010. ISS also criticised 'insufficient disclosure' on how Metro measures non-financial bonus targets, providing only 'vague descriptions'.
Despite acknowledging record revenues and profits last year, and a share price rise of over 25% in 2025, ISS recommended a vote against the pay report. Metro Bank, which avoided collapse in 2023 via a £925m rescue deal led by Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal, defended its approach, stating it is 'fully aligned with shareholders' interests'.
