HSBC pay plan revolt urged

Pirc, which advises institutional investors with assets of over 1.5 trillion, said Stuart Gulliver, head of HSBC's global banking and markets division, received a bonus of over 11 times his base salary. "This award is excessive," it said.

Pirc said excluding Gulliver and chairman Stephen Green, who waived his bonus, HSBC's executive directors received bonuses of 167-373 per cent of their base salaries in 2009.

HSBC's plan to pay chief executive Michael Geoghegan an extra 300,000 a year for living costs following his relocation to Hong Kong has already come under attack from shareholders.

HSBC declined to comment.