Banking execs 'massively overpaid'

Banking execs 'massively overpaid'

Wednesday, 19, Nov 2008 04:00

Chief executives for the UK's top banks are overpaid and need to have their salary capped, trade union Unite has claimed.

Unite commissioned thinktank Labour Research Department to research remuneration over the past four years for top banking executives and found basic pay and bonuses for five chief executives at HBOS, Lloyds TSB, RBS, Barclays and HSBC totalled over £52 million.

Excluding share based payments, between 2003 and 2007, Fred Godwin, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, made £15.5 million, HBOS chief executive Andy Hornby made £6.9 million and Eric Daniels, head of Lloyds TSB, made £10.2 million.

These three, who were all in charge of banks who have taken cash from the government, were paid a combined £122 million in pay and bonuses, Unite said.

Unite is calling on the government to appoint a representative to the boards of the bailed out banks who has the power to oversee and ensure a fair and transparent pay policy.

Unite joint general secretary, Derek Simpson, said: "Directors will be foregoing their cash bonuses this Christmas but thanks to them millions face uncertainty in the new year. We need action in the long-term to end the current rot across Britain's boardrooms.

"Boardroom pay practices are not only unjust - they have contributed to the worst financial crisis in decades."

"As taxpayers we now have a significant stake in the country's banking system. We are urging the government to set an example and take an active, interventionist approach to ensure fairness in the boardroom and an end to rewards for failure."

Employees of LTSB and HBOS are holding a demonstration outside the Lloyds TSB extraordinary general meeting in Glasgow today as shareholders vote on the merger with HBOS.