Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief information officer Michael Harte received an increase just shy of $1 million to his total remuneration package in the 2008 financial year, according to the bank's annual report released today.
(Credit: CommBank)
Harte's total remuneration package, a mix of share options and cash, stood at $2.7 million in the 2008 financial year — up $961,000 from 2007, according to the bank's annual report.
The increase was due to short term incentives, and performance related achievements, a CommBank spokesperson told ZDNet.com.au.
Harte's total remuneration was on par with that of Michael Coomer, Westpac's ex-group executive for the bank's business and technology Services division, last year. In 2007 Coomer's remuneration package dropped by $200,000, bringing his annual package to $2.7 million, shortly before he departed.
Coomer was recently appointed to head up EDS' Asia-Pacific operations, as part of the group's merger with Hewlett-Packard.
Harte was also the bank's leading staff borrower amongst its head executives, ahead of CEO Ralph Norris who had $2.7 million in outstanding staff loans with the bank. At the end of the 2008 financial year, Harte's borrowings from the bank stood at $3.4 million, with the highest level of borrowing during the period at $3.5 million.
News of the CIO's pay rise comes several months after the CBA announced in April it would embark on a $580 million, four-year program to modernise its legacy core banking systems and introduce new features with the help of SAP and Accenture.
CommBank was unable to respond to ZDNet.com.au's questions at the time of writing.
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