LONDON, April 22 (UPI) -- An investment group in Britain has warned bank directors at two bailed out banks pay among the top executives is above a tolerable level.
The Association of British Insurers, representing investments of large insurance companies, has issued "amber top" alerts to the boards of Lloyds Banking Group, 41 percent owned by taxpayers, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, 84 percent owned by taxpayers, The Guardian reported Thursday.
The "amber top" alerts are a form of notice to other shareholders that a particular problem with a corporation requires further review.
"There is some residual concern amongst some shareholders in the way the remuneration committee made its decision on bonuses," said Peter Montagnon, director of investment affairs at the ABI.
Chairman of the Lloyds Group remuneration committee Wolfgang Berndt was forced to resign after awarding Chief Executive Officer Eric Daniels $3.5 million in bonus pay for 2009.
Daniels refused the bonus package, but four other bank directors accepted bonus pay that averaged more than $1 million each, the newspaper said.
