Bank's bonus boss is to step down at AGM

Wolfgang Berndt, 67, will step down from the board at the bank's annual shareholder meeting, Lloyds said.

He is leaving just months after approving a full bonus worth more than 2m for chief executive Eric Daniels, despite the bailed-out bank's losses.

Daniels waived the payment, following in the footsteps of counterparts at Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 84 per cent state-owned, and Barclays.

However, the award of a full bonus by the remuneration committee irked some shareholders, with at least one major investor – UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which manages the Government's 41 per cent stake – considering voting against his reappointment, an industry source said. No decision had been taken, the source said.

UKFI said on Monday that Berndt had been "a very committed member of the Lloyds Board through an exceptionally challenging period, and we wish him the best as he steps down".

A former Procter and Gamble executive, Berndt has been a Lloyds director since 2003 and chairman of the bank's remuneration committee since 2005. He will be replaced by Tony Watson, a former chief executive of Hermes Pension Management. Mr Watson has been on the board since April last year.