TSB boss defends salary

5th Jun 2014 17:18

TSB's new boss Paul Pester has defended his own salary amid the high street bank's breakaway from Lloyds Banking Group.The company said bonuses for all 8,600 staff will be up to 10% of their salaries and outstanding performers may be rewarded up to 15%.Pester will still be able to earn more than £1.6m due to an additional reward scheme for executives, that allows them to double their basic pay. His basic salary, including pension benefits, will be £877,500."It's a lot of money, I have to say," he told the BBC."But I think what our board has thought about is...the responsibility that comes with looking after banking for 4.5m customers, looking after £20bn worth of customers' money, and actually bringing a bank to the UK that is different," he said.The news comes as 25% of TSB is being floated on the stock market this month. TSB is splitting from parent Lloyds after the European Commission made it a condition of the government bailout. RD