Institutional Shareholder Services has urged Julius Baer shareholders to reject the proposed remuneration package for the Swiss private bank's board of directors, which includes a plan to double the chair's pay to 2 million Swiss francs ($2.26 million). 

The bank has not provided a convincing rationale for increasing the board's overall compensation by 19.2% to 4.4 million Swiss francs ($4.98 million) for the upcoming year, according to a note from ISS. The proxy advisory firm objected to the planned increase in compensation for the board, which is set to reduce its membership from nine to eight, asserting that it should not be used to fund a pay hike for the chairman.

Julius Baer did not comment on the matter. The bank has nominated Noel Quinn, former CEO of HSBC, for election as its next chairman at the annual general meeting on April 10. He will succeed Romeo Lacher, who announced his departure in January as the bank seeks to recover from significant losses tied to its investment in the collapsed property group Signa.