KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — The shareholders of Felda Global Ventures (FGV) are still undecided about the type of remuneration packages needed for the government-linked company’s (GLC) board of directors, The Edge Financial Daily reported today.

FGV group chief executive Datuk Haris Fadzilah Hassan indicated that the shareholders — which includes the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd (KPF) and the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) — have not had a meeting since June when some of them rejected resolutions concerning the directors’ fees.

"Officially, I think there have not been any meetings with regard to the directors’ remuneration. I think that this is a shareholders’ matter, they probably will have their own unofficial meeting which the management is not privy to.

"We hope that this [issue] can be resolved in an amicable and quick manner because we want some kind of stability [in the group].

"The board is very committed to drive the transformation and they have not shown any sign of slowing down with regard to this effort,” he was quoted as telling a media briefing yesterday.

Haris reportedly added that it would be good for shareholders to recognise the directors’ efforts when deciding their remuneration packages.

FGV’s three biggest shareholders are Felda which holds 33.6 per cent, KPF which owns 5 per cent and LTAT which owns 1.25 per cent.

In a June meeting, Felda, KPF and LTAT were reported to have baulked at the hefty RM5.74 million fees the FGV directors were getting in 2018, especially chairman Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid whose remuneration ate up RM1.95 million or a third of the total and worked out to about twice what the other directors received in aggregate.

Their response reportedly led Azhar to remark that the shareholders were in agreement over the directors serving but not being paid.

FGV (formerly Felda Global Ventures Holdings) had been the investment arm of the land authority but was spun off controversially in 2012 when then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak pushed for it to be listed on Bursa Malaysia.

The move was meant to generate sustainable income for Felda and its settlers but FGV shares are now trading at a fraction of their initial public offering (IPO) value.

While the IPO had raised over RM6 billion, former Felda chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad had made the shocking revelation that RM4.3 billion was unaccounted for back in 2017.

The move also sapped most of Felda’s cash reserves, forcing the current government to announce a multi-billion ringgit bailout of the agency.