Oil executive signs off own £9m bonus... with no catch

THE boss of a London-listed oil drilling firm has been handed a controversial £9 million bonus – by the pay committee he chairs.

In a move that flouts corporate governance guidelines, Dr Mohamed Farouk is not only the chief executive of ADES International Holding but also the chairman of its remuneration committee.

Last week, the £450 million Egyptian firm, which operates in the Middle East and North Africa, granted Farouk free shares worth £9 million.

A quarter of the shares handed to Farouk have vested immediately, so he can already cash in £2.25 million.

He will only miss out on the remaining shares if he leaves the firm because there are no performance conditions attached. He can cash in another 25 per cent next year and the remainder in January 2021. Farouk is understood to have played no role in his own shares bonus.

It will raise further questions about the effectiveness of socalled long-term incentive plans.

Last year, shareholder advisory group Glass Lewis urged investors to vote against the re-election of Farouk as a director because he chairs the pay committee.

ADES raised £130 million when it floated on the London Stock Exchange in May 2017.

Its share price has since fallen around 20 per cent.

A company spokesman said: ‘ADES takes its corporate governance obligations very seriously and is compliant with all provisions as a non-UK company with a standard listing in London.’