The HSBC chairman was heckled yesterday with cries of “shame” by angry former employees who say the bank is unfairly clawing back part of their pensions.
Mark Tucker faced boos and repeated interruptions from activists at the bank’s annual general meeting in London.
One compared the long battle of thousands of former employees, most of whom joined Midland Bank before it was acquired by HSBC, with the Post Office scandal.
Activists point out that even as the bank refuses to bow to retirees’ plight, it is rewarding bosses with huge pay rises and preparing to lift a cap on bonuses for top employees.
The furore comes as Tucker faced a number of major challenges, including searching for a third chief executive in less than eight years after Noel Quinn announced his retirement.
Mockery: One compared the battle of thousands of former employees, most of whom joined Midland Bank before it was acquired by HSBC, to the Post Office scandal
The AGM descended into acrimony as members of the Midland Recovery Campaign, many wearing red t-shirts with the slogan ‘HSBC – hands off our pensions’, made their voices heard.
They are calling for an end to the practice of some members of the bank’s latest pay scheme having their private pension money reduced when they start receiving the state pension. At the same time, they point out that Quinn’s salary has almost doubled to £10.6m. Part of that amount is a cash payment of £134,000 in lieu of pension.
The “catch-up” affects 52,000 people who joined the Midland scheme between 1975 and 1996, when it closed.
Nancy Ball, who runs the Midland Recovery Campaign, said some former employees were seeing their pensions fall by about a quarter as a result of the recovery. She told the board: ‘I was one of the top performers; I thought you had my back, but no, you didn’t. What a shame for all of you.’
Tucker said it was an “important and emotional issue,” but that the issue had been reviewed many times and that the deduction had been “legal and properly communicated to members,” before he was roundly booed and booed.
Activists lost a vote at the Annual General Meeting aimed at changing the practice. Val Twigg, 62, who worked at the bank for more than 46 years, drew a parallel to postmasters who were unfairly pursued by the Post Office to recover money they claimed they had misappropriated.