SCOR CEO Kessler to take 30% bonus cut as it scraps dividend for 2019

French reinsurer SCOR's chairman and chief executive Denis Kessler has agreed a 30 percent cut in his annual variable compensation for the 2019 fiscal year.

The board of directors of SCOR's Compensation and Nomination Committee have approved Kessler's proposal in line with the French regulator Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution's (ACPR) directive to “exercise restraint on variable compensation award policies” amid the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and ACPR called on the insurance companies in April to “refrain from proposing the distribution of dividends” for the 2019 fiscal year during this profound and unprecedented health crisis.

In view of these factors, SCOR also announced that its board of directors have decided to propose to the shareholders’ meeting of June 16, 2020, that no dividend be distributed for the 2019 fiscal year and that the entire income for that year be allocated to distributable earnings.

Earlier in February, the board had decided a gross dividend of €1.80 per share be distributed for the 2019 fiscal year, in line with SCOR’s "attractive shareholder remuneration policy".

The ACPR’s position calling for no dividend distribution covers the period from April until October 1, 2020. SCOR said that it will "regain its freedom in terms of capital management" after this deadline.

The carrier pointed out that its estimated solvency ratio at March 31, 2020, is 210 percent, in the upper part of the optimal solvency range of 185-220 percent as defined in the “Quantum Leap” strategic plan.

SCOR stresses that the group has not used the short-time work scheme and benefits from no government support schemes.

SCOR's upcoming AGM will be held without the physical presence of shareholders on June 16.