Lloyds bonuses 'will be lowest'

Bonuses at part-nationalised Lloyds will be the lowest of any bank this year, its chairman has told MPs and peers.

Sir Winfried Bischoff said the bank's board and remuneration committee would be "very much aware" of public opinion on the matter of City bonuses, particularly at state-backed institutions.

Decisions on bonuses or "incentive compensation", including for chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio, would be made soon, he told the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

"It will be the lowest undoubtedly of any bank," he said.

He added: "We are very conscious of the point... that as a taxpayer-owned company we should, perhaps more than others, be very much aware of the public sentiment in relation to that and we will be."

Despite continuing controversy over bankers' bonuses, Mr Horta-Osorio declined to say whether he would accept a bonus this year.

"I don't want to speculate about something that, to the best of my knowledge, has not yet been discussed," he told the commission.

Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins announced last week he would waive his bonus for 2012 after a year of devastating reputational blows for the group, including its £290 million settlement for Libor rate rigging.

Royal Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester has already waived his entitlement to a bonus for 2012, which he announced amid the bailed-out bank's computer meltdown last summer.