Lloyds Paid 30 Staff £1m Last Year

The state-backed lender Lloyds Banking Group paid dozens of staff more than a million pounds last year, taking the number of UK-based bankers earning seven-figure sums to more than 750.

I understand that Lloyds will disclose in its annual report next week that roughly 30 of its staff were awarded pay packages of more than £1m.

The figure will be the first time that Lloyds, which is 39% owned by taxpayers, has disclosed the number of millionaires in its ranks.

It threatens to re-ignite anger among critics of banking sector pay after a year in which Lloyds lost more than £500m as it continued to deal with the massive financial penalties associated with mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI).

The Lloyds millionaires largely work in its corporate and investment banking division, according to insiders.

Among those receiving £1m-plus packages was Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive. His £1.48m bonus will vest depending on either the bank's share price performance or the Government's disposal of part of its shareholding.

In total, Lloyds paid out £375m in bonuses, lower than the other state-backed bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which forked out £607m.

RBS, which has a larger investment bank than Lloyds, awarded £1m-plus pay deals to 95 staff, while Barclays handed the sums to 428 employees. The two banks were fined a collective £680m for manipulating the interbank borrowing rate, Libor.

HSBC paid 204 of its staff at least £1m last year, making a total for the big four UK banks - including Lloyds' approximately 30 employees - of 757.

Lloyds declined to comment.