HSBC under attack from protesters at shareholder meeting

HSBC has become the target of protesters as it held its annual shareholder meeting in Westminster.

Tax campaigners dressed in ill-fitting City suits and sporting bowler hats joined forces with demonstrators from Move Your Money protesting against the bank’s funding for controversial Columbian coal miner Drummond.

David Hillman, spokesperson for the Robin Hood Tax Campaign said: “Another year, another huge dollop of cream for HSBC’s fat cats. But with profits down, people are rightly outraged at such bumper pay-outs in a rather bumpy year for the bank.”

Despite the protests shareholders resoundingly backed the bank’s pay policy which saw chief executive Stuart Gulliver receive £7.34 million and chairman Douglas Flint £2.5 million last year.

Profits fell 7% last year to $20.4 billion.

Flint told shareholders that while HSBC was not taking a stand on Brexit its own economic research indicated that Britain would be better off staying within the EU.