Metro Bank investors reelect Vernon Hill as chairman

LONDON (Reuters) - Metro Bank Plc (MTRO.L) shareholders voted to reelect American businessman Vernon Hill as chairman on Tuesday, despite a controversy over payments made over several years by the British bank to his wife's architecture company.

Of the votes cast at the bank's annual general meeting in London 96 percent were in favour of Hill continuing in his role.

Investment adviser firm Glass Lewis and asset manager Royal London last week questioned whether it was appropriate that Metro Bank had paid some 21 million pounds in fees since 2010 to InterArch, owned by Hill's wife Shirley.

Metro said last week that it had taken measures to ensure that the terms of its arrangement with InterArch, which provided services including design of its branches, were favourable for the bank.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney, writing by Lawrence White, editing by Alexander Smith)