Tory donor Lord Cruddas facing revolt at CMC Markets

Tory donor Lord Cruddas is facing a revolt at CMC Markets after a shareholder adviser urged investors to sack its chairman amid a row over diversity. 

ISS has called for James Richards to be ousted at the stock trading firm’s annual general meeting on Thursday over a failure to ensure there were enough women on its board of directors. 

Clare Salmon, one of CMC’s non-executive directors, is due to step down at the meeting meaning female representation on the board will drop to only 25 per cent. 

This is below the 33 per cent target set for FTSE 350 firms by the Hampton-Alexander review, which suggested gender diversity be seen as a key corporate governance issue. 

ISS said Richards, as chairman of the company’s nomination committee, had a responsibility to ensure the board ‘promotes gender diversity in line with emerging good practice’, the Sunday Telegraph reported.