Lloyds boss pay sparks shareholder revolt

Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds Banking Group faced a shareholder rebellion yesterday when more than a fifth of investors voted against the boardroom remuneration report at its AGM.

Shareholders of the group, which also includes Scottish Widows. cast ballots against an executive package that showed chief executive António Horta-Osório was paid a total of £6.2m in 2017, an 11 per cent pay rise on the previous year, as well as a benefits package worth 12.5 per cent of his salary. That package also includes a car allowance.

The consequent revolt was spearheaded by advisory group Institutional Shareholders Services (ISS) which called for the report to be rejected on account of Horta-Osorio’s pay and bonuses being nearly 100 times that of the average worker.

ISS also flagged an “unduly complex” bonus structure.

TV star Noel Edmonds also publicly berated the board at the meeting.

The former Deal Or No Deal presenter alleges that the firm ran by him was destroyed by a fraud that took place in a branch of HBOS - which Lloyds rescued at the height of the financial crisis - in Reading between 2003 and 2007.

Mr Edmonds told the AGM: “Your bank destroyed my business, Unique Group, over 100 people lost jobs, lives were destroyed,” Mr Edmonds alleged at the meeting in comments directed at Lloyds’ chairman Lord Blackwell.

He added: “Last year I listened to you and your CEO promising swift and fair compensation for all victims but that process has not materialised for the majority of people who have had their lives destroyed by a criminal banker.”

The scandal affected over 60 small business owners that had run into financial difficulty and were referred to a consultancy firm before having their assets stripped.

Last year six people, including two former HBOS employees, were jailed for their role in the fraud.

Lloyds Banking Group appointed Professor Russel Griggs to review the cases of people affected set aside £100m last year to compensate victims.

Mr Edmonds is one of those now seeking financial redress and asked repeated questions about directors’ handling of the scandal.

Asked by Mr Edmonds if Lloyds had compensated any people for losses suffered as a consequence of the fraud, Lloyds chairman Lord Blackwell defended the bank’s conduct.

He said: “We have gone through a review with all of those customers looking at all the circumstances that they could.

“Mr Griggs has conducted a review of their claims and come up with compensation arrangements that are appropriate to deal with all the circumstances including the inconvenience and distress those customers have been put through.”

Lord Blackwell also noted the group had helped Thames Valley Police in the investigations into the affair.

Following a lengthy exchange with Mr Edmonds he concluded: “You have set out one version of events and what you believe to have happened we have a different version of events and what we believe to have happened. We haven’t been able to agree a settlement and we’re not persuaded of the allegations you have made.”

Noting Mr Edmonds had stated that he wished to pursue the matter in court Lord Blackwell said he was happy to let a judge reach a decision based on the evidence presented.