The chief executive of ANZ will forgo $1.5 million in pay after a shareholder backlash following allegations of toxic behaviour in its dealing rooms.

Shayne Elliott asked to sacrifice what’s known as his long-term variable remuneration after early voting showed the resolution was garnering just 50.08 per cent of the vote, with 49.23 per cent opposed.

ANZ director Holly Kramer said at the bank’s annual meeting on Thursday the board had already slashed that portion of Elliott’s compensation by 46 per cent, or $1.5 million, over what it had been last year.

The board believed that was a meaningful reduction, but it became clear shareholder support for the resolution was lacking and Elliott offered to forfeit the grant, Kramer said.

ANZ chairman Paul O’Sullivan said the move was a credit to Elliott, who he said was not directly involved in anything to do with the trading room behaviour but nonetheless bore responsibility for it as chief executive under the theory of “Westminster accountability”.

Elliott’s long-term variable remuneration for the year could have been a maximum of $3.2 million, plus a base salary of $2.5 million and up to $4.7 million in short-term bonuses.

Elliott, in his last meeting as CEO before his retirement last year, said some of the more lurid stories of misconduct at ANZ’s Sydney trading room had not been substantiated but there had been alcohol use and some people had lost jobs as a result.

“It’s a small group of people – I don’t want to diminish it,” O’Sullivan said.

It appeared ANZ’s board would get a “first strike”, with a preliminary tally showing 38 per cent of votes were against ANZ’s renumeration report.

The vote is purely advisory but if more than 25 per cent of shareholders also vote against the report next year, it could trigger a board spill resolution.

A resolution to amend ANZ’s constitution, to allow a resolution on climate change to be considered, had received just 7.1 per cent of the vote with 91.9 per cent opposed.

That means the climate change resolution wasn’t officially considered by the meeting.

The preliminary tally shows the climate change resolution itself had received 27.2 per cent of the vote, with 71.8 per cent opposed.

-AAP