Fighting for a share of the purse
A bantamweight boxer is about to be pitted against the heavyweight Macquarie Group.
A bantamweight boxer is about to be pitted against the heavyweight Macquarie Group.In a David-and-Goliath battle, a former Macquarie proprietary trader, Maghnus Byrne, is suing the big doughnut for $750,000 in damages he reckons he suffered when the bank withheld his profit-share bonus after his contract was "terminated".The case in the NSW Supreme Court threatens to embolden many other Macquarie types scattered around the globe whose contracts were terminated when it took a razor to its labour bill in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.Byrne first got a job with Macquarie in Hong Kong in 2001. Over the next seven years he diligently worked his way up the ladder to eventually earn the lofty title of "associate director, equity derivatives trader".Along the way, he earned pay rises and bigger bonuses under the profit share scheme. In his last year his salary was raised to $HK1.4 million ($200,000) and he was due for $HK15 million in profit-share bonuses. He even claims he received an "extremely positive" performance review two months before he was sacked.But in November 2008 a Macquarie bigwig and sportscar lover, Kim Burke, sent him a letter terminating his contract.Macquarie uses the bonus pool to retain good staff. Bonuses are paid over five years to ensure they don't end up scoring big bonuses and then running for the door. If they do leave, the bankers forfeit their profit share.But in Byrne's case, he claims he is entitled to his share of the bonus pool because the bank dumped him and not the other way around. It's a point Macquarie doesn't accept.Ultimately the courtroom fight will be over the wording of the bonus pool policy.Byrne has shown inside and outside the ring that he can pack a punch. In late 2007 he swapped his suit for satin boxers to swing a few punches at other bankers in a charity fight called the Hedge Fund Fight Night.The first round in his latest skirmish is scheduled for court on April 9.GHOST OF KEZZAJames Packer might have chosen a few years ago to quit Macquarie Bank shares lock, stock and barrel, but his older sister still has an active interest in bank stock.It turns out that the publicity shy Gretel holds 997 shares in Westpac, worth almost $28,000, while their late father, Kerry, is still listed as owning 4000 shares in Gail Kelly's New Normal. The latter tranche could even be the remnants of those Kerry bought during a secret raid on Westpac in the '90s when it was on its knees.But we're a little stumped as to who collects the dividend cheque addressed to a Mr K. Packer every six months at the Packer compound on Park Street.Meanwhile, David Bell, a boss of the Australian Bankers Association for almost a decade, has got the nod to replace Sally Herman as chief spin-doctor and lobbyist at Westpac in the aftermath of Kelly's banana-skin slip-up. Herman is off to do some work in the "diversity and flexibility area".Staff who mess up now might find themselves in the firing line: Bell apparently had a few years as an infantry officer in the army.SELLING THE FARMAnother part of the vast Riverina rural empire of Rodney Price, the former chairman of Brierley Investments and John Fairfax, has been sold. The 4828-hectare North Tahara property outside Wagga has been bought by Malcolm Shippen, a Melbourne stockbroker.Price, once one of the largest private landowners in NSW, was bankrupted last July after property deals in Europe and Australia turned bad.FLYING HIGHWestfield's Peter Lowy seems to share Kevin Rudd's preference for working at 10,000 metres.The Los Angeles-based Lowy forked out $163,868 on hiring Westfield's fleet of flying gin palaces last year, more than double the $71,876 billed to him and his plane-flying, guitar-playing bro David in 2008.Westfield also hired jets owned by the Lowy family's private investment plaything, LFG, last year for the princely sum of $1.4 million. Though this was less than the $1.65 million bill notched up a year earlier.Between them, Westfield and the Lowys have three Global Express jets (retail price: a tad more than $60 million each) and a Challenger 604 ($30 million).BRAVE GOOSEThe Sigma Pharmaceuticals chairman, John Stocker, will have to be a "brave goose" when the drug company finally delivers its bitter pill to investors as early as today.It's been anything but a good few weeks. Apart from the debacle of Sigma's results, Stocker, who is also the CSIRO chairman, has watched as Telstra's shares plunged to record lows and Nufarm delivered a profit downgrade and was pulled up by the ASX. He is a director of both companies.But at least he can seek refuge at his Brave Goose vineyard near Seymour in Victoria - although life for a winegrower hasn't been too profitable over the last few years due to the world grape glut.Stocker wasn't available to chat but his wife, Jo, said the last of their crops of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon grapes were picked about a week ago - about a month earlier than usual."We are feeling a little bit relaxed [after the harvest]. All the seasons are a bit more difficult than they used to be - everything ripened up sooner than expected," she said.Stocker might well be in need of a few bottles of his best plonk after the shenanigans at Sigma. Of course, he could always join a fellow Nufarm director, Donald McGauchie, whose wheat property Terrick West, north of Bendigo, is but a short trip away.STOCKS ALERTGood to see there is life after Allco Finance. The name of Tony Stocks, Allco's former chief risk manager, cropped up time and again last week in the Federal Court because he raised the red flag back in 2007 about the failed outfit's increasingly desperate financial position.Stocks is now holding down a job in the same role at Hong Kong Aviation Company, which is backed by China's HNA Group and New York's Bravia Capital Partners.Yes, that's the same company which bought Allco's aircraft leasing business earlier this year.Got a tip? Use our online tips box or email mosullivan@smh.com.au
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