Lord Cruddas faces investor rebellion over lack of women in CMC Markets boardroom

Investors are being urged to oust the chairman of Lord Cruddas’ City trading firm owing to a lack of gender diversity on the company’s board. ISS, the proxy adviser, called for James Richards to be sacked as chairman of CMC Markets at the company’s annual meeting on Thursday over its failure to hire enough women to its board of directors. As such, a vote against James Richards' re-election is considered warranted at this time.” ISS also criticised CMC for not meeting the recommendations of the UK's corporate governance code which states that at least half the board, excluding the chair, should be independent directors. Once dubbed the richest man in the City, Lord Cruddas, chief executive of CMC, owns a majority stake in the business, meaning ISS is unlikely to succeed in its attempt to oust Mr Richards at Thursday’s meeting unless Lord Cruddas votes to sack him.