Andy Duffy
FIRST NATIONAL BANK (FNB) has given ousted managing director Barry Swart a pay-off barely different to the salary he would have earned had he not been fired.
The bank, which released its year-end results this week, is refusing to disclose terms of the settlement which were agreed to in September when Swart left FNB amid allegations of nepotism.
But insiders say the package roughly equals what he would have received for the remaining three years of his contract.
The bank has also decided against disclosing the details of Swart’s pay-off to shareholders, arguing that the terms of his “early retirement” should remain confidential.
FNB’s 1995 annual report shows the board’s total remuneration stood at R2,4-million last year, with services as directors accounting for R800 000. As the bank’s only executive director for that year, Swart’s salary accounted for the lion’s share. He is also thought to have close to a million FNB share options.
Swart was ousted after an internal investigation found he had handed his daughter’s firm the contract to decorate FNB’s Bank City headquarters in Johannesburg.
The investigation began last November, and the FNB board censured Swart in February.
The censure was leaked to the media, damaging FNB’s credibility. The board also discovered Swart had continued to give work to his daughter, despite its warning.