Shareholders in Barclays have forced the British bank to accept tougher bonus conditions and promise higher dividends, highlighting how the balance of power between investors and managers is shifting at some of the biggest global banks.
The investor victory follows a shock vote in the US on Tuesday when 55 per cent of shareholders in Citigroup refused to back the $15m remuneration package for Vikram Pandit, chief executive.
After a series of bruising meetings with Barclays’ biggest shareholders over the past few weeks, Bob Diamond, chief executive, volunteered yesterday to forgo half his £2.7m bonus for 2011 until Barclays had improved profitability.