Fat cat bankers have pension pots slashed

TWO high Street bank bosses have had more than £ 400,000 cut from their annual pension payments amid an investor outcry.

Antonio horta-Osorio, chief executive of Lloyds, and hSBc boss John Flint, took the reductions amid claims blue- chip firms are using the payouts to top-up boardroom salaries.

Rival bank Standard chartered, as well as FTSE 100 groups Astrazeneca, Reckitt Benckiser and Burberry have also come under fire for handing bosses pension contributions worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

But both Lloyds and hSBc said their bosses would take reductions to their pay.

hSBc said Flint’s payments will fall from £ 372,000 to £124,000, taking it from 30pc of his salary to 10pc. The 50-yearold was handed a total package worth £4.6m in 2018.

Lloyds said horta- Osorio, who was paid £6.3m last year, will also see his pension contributions cut. he will get 33pc of his salary, or £419,000, down from 46pc.

Lloyds said it made the change to bring horta- Osorio’s pay ‘closer to that of the majority of the colleagues’ – but at 33pc it is still more than double the 13pc most Lloyds staff can receive.

hSBc’s decision came after major investors raised concerns about a two-tier system created by payouts, with ordinary staff able to get maximum contributions of 16pc of their annual earnings.

It is the second time in three years the bank has cut pension payments, after reducing contributions in 2016 from 50pc of executive salaries to 30pc.

The calls for more restraint have also been echoed by major funds, with FTSE firms braced for potential shareholder rebellions.