Barclays and Santander to cut chief executive pension perks
Barclays, Santander and Lloyds Banking Group have all slashed pension allowances for their bosses after an outcry from MPs and investors.
Barclays chief executive Jes Staley is set to receive a cash lump sum of £396,000 instead of a pension this year, which is equivalent to 34 per cent of his salary.
From next year, this is set to be cut by more than £200,000.
Santander chief executive Nathan Bostock’s £580,000 annual pension payment is also under review.
Read more: Lloyds Banking Group boss to take pay cut after pension backlash
Bostock’s pension package is worth 35 per cent of his £1.7m salary, compared to the 12.5 per cent maximum given to other Santander workers.
Lloyds Banking Group is also planning on slashing its chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio’s pension package by more than £220,000.
Horta-Osorio was blasted by MPs in June for “greed” in relation to his £6.3m pay packet – which included a pension contribution worth 46 per cent of his base salary – reduced to 33 per cent after an outcry.
Lloyds’ employees receive a maximum of 13 per cent in pension contributions, but this is set to rise to 15 per cent from next year.
HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland have promised to set pension contributions paid to their chief executives at 10 per cent of base salary.
Read more: Lloyds Bank boss defends pay and pension perks as MPs accuse him of greed
Barclays is looking to boost typical pension contributions paid to employees from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent, a source close to the bank said.
Staley’s new cash payment would equate to around 17 per cent of the £1.18m salary he was paid last year.
“It’s a start but these cuts do not really go far enough. There’s no real reason why CEO pension payments shouldn’t be completely in line with other staff,” Peter Parry, policy director at investor group Sharesoc told Reuters.
The Financial Times first reported Barclays’ plans and the Telegraph first reported Santander’s cuts.