Called crooks by their own shareholders

Shamed HSBC boss taunted with handcuffs by a raging investor

FURIOUS shareholders hurled abuse at HSBC bosses yesterday, accusing them of presiding over a string of scandals.

At a stormy public meeting, one campaigner produced a pair of handcuffs for chief executive Stuart Gulliver and branded him a crook.

Others demanded to know if they would ever see an improvement in the bank’s rock-bottom share price.

And there was applause for claims that bosses had sought to ‘ blackmail’ the authorities into dropping a review of banking ethics late last year.

Activist investor Michael Mason-Mahon told the bank’s chairman Douglas Flint that he and Gulliver were ‘like a cancer to the name of HSBC’.

It comes as the bank faces a storm of criticism over the Panama Papers tax scandal. Leaked files from law firm Mossack Fonseca reveal HSBC and affiliates asked it to create 2,300 shell companies for clients.

US law enforcement is investigating and some experts have warned that HSBC – which has already faced sharp criticism in America for other money-laundering crises – is at risk of losing its banking licence in the country.

Calling for the board to take a pay cut, Mason-Mahon waved handcuffs in the air and said they were ‘ a gift for Mr Gulliver from the Americans’.

A furious Flint told him the stunt was ‘completely out of order’.

When the campaigner called out ‘please tell the truth,’ the chairman snapped back: ‘I am telling the truth.’

Several hundred investors turned out for the meeting amid a funereal atmosphere at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, in the heart of Westminster. Outside, a group of protesters dressed as fat cats demanded higher taxes on the banks. Inside, HSBC’s directors stressed their efforts to rebuild its reputation.

Flint’s opening speech was littered with references to good progress being made. He talked of ‘great strides to enforce transparency and full disclosure’, adding although there were lessons to be learned from Panama, allegations related to ‘largely historical’ practices.

HSBC is neutral in the EU referendum campaign, but the chairman warned a Leave vote on June 23 would see ‘the economy slow’ and there could be ‘restructuring’ of British operations.

Flint and Gulliver said they were unhappy with the share price, which closed down 1.14pc, or 5.4p, at 466.5p. It has dropped around 23pc in the past 12 months. This was a source of ‘concern and frustration’, Gulliver said, but the bank would continue to pay ‘an industry-leading dividend’.

The warm words were not enough to convince shareholders. Almost 10pc voted against Gulliver’s £7.3m pay packet.

HSBC also introduced a new bonus scheme which cuts the maximum directors can earn by 7pc after facing criticism for its ‘excessive’ awards. But the questions continued. Jessica Hall of the Share Action investor group said the Panama revelations were ‘a clear step back’ at a time ‘when HSBC needs to regain trust’.

Flint replied: ‘We can’t, sadly, influence how people characterise our involvement in what you’ve described.’

Others took the floor to demand answers over branch closures. Earlier this month, it emerged that HSBC would shut another 200 across the UK.

Meanwhile, HSBC was accused of forcing regulators to drop an inquiry into industry ethics.

Fionn Travers-Smith of the Move Your Money ethical banking campaign argued HSBC had dropped a headquarters move from London to Hong Kong in exchange for key concessions from the Government. ‘What gives you the right to blackmail regulators?’ he asked, to applause. Flint dismissed the claim as ‘incredibly ill-informed’.