LLOYDS Banking Group was forced to defend its pay and pension plans for top executives to shareholders after being accused of “boundless greed”, amid anger over chief Antonio Horta-Osorio’s £6.27 million award.
More than eight per cent of investor votes were made against the bank’s pay proposals for executives at the lender’s annual shareholder meeting in Edinburgh.
The bank avoided a full-blown revolt over pay despite mounting unrest over chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio’s pension deal ahead of the event.
Lloyds saw 91.95% of votes made in favour of its overall pay plans at the AGM, which marked an improvement on last year’s result when a fifth of shareholders voted against its remuneration report.
A further one billion votes were withheld.
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All members of the Lloyds Banking Group board were also re-elected at the event.
It comes after MPs accused the firm of “boundless greed” over its pension plans for Mr Horta-Osorio.
Frank Field, chairman of the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, launched a scathing attack on the group and investors also took aim at the board over pay at the event.
One shareholder said: “Greed is good - no it’s not. It’s not good for the individual or for society.
“Fair pay is good. Paying people hundreds of thousands and even millions of pounds a year where we have food banks and people on benefits is wrong in a civilised society.”
Chairman Lord Blackwell moved to defend Mr Horta-
Osorio’s £6.27m annual deal. Lloyds’ chief financial officer George Culmer and chief operating officer Juan Colombas both received total remuneration of £3.27m for 2018.
He said the chief executive and other directors have “earned through their performance the rewards that they are entitled to”.
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He said: “Let me be clear - our view is we should and need to pay for performance.
“Not many people would do the arduous hours and arduous tasks they do for free.”
The Bank of Scotland owner has also come under heavy fire over pensions, following the revelation that Mr Horta-Osorio’s pay included a pension contribution of 46%, compared to a 13% maximum for other employees.
In February, he voluntarily reduced his pension contribution to 33%.
The board, of 10 men and three women, was also challenged over diversity and inclusivity.
One shareholder said: “You talk about championing diversity, but the only black face I can see on stage is on the [logo] horse. I was jut wondering whether you considered your board to be diverse - I don’t consider your board to be diverse.”
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Lord Blackwell said: “We do take this extremely seriously
“So far as the board is concerned it is equally important and diversity reflects many different characteristics, not just male, female or ethnic background, it is diversity of experience and educational background, were you come from in the country, all of those things.
“We have a strong record of developing diversity in our workforce and have set some strong targets for that.”
The chairman also gave an update on alleged criminal activity uncovered 10 years ago at the group’s HBOS Reading arm.
The bank said in a statement: “All of the 71 business customers and their directors that have participated in the customer compensation review have now received offers and that all but a handful of those offers have been accepted.
“We continue to engage with a small number of customers who have rejected their offers and who are now pursuing their claims separately.”
Television presenter Noel Edmonds appeared at the AGM to question the board over issues allegedly connected the the Reading cases.
Lloyds also earlier announced plans to pay quarterly dividends from next year. It will pay dividends from the first quarter of 2020 to provide shareholders with more regular returns.
Shares closed at 61.51p, up 0.53p, or 0.87%.
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