Wolfgang Berndt to retire from Lloyds

THE head of the remuneration committee at Lloyds Banking Group will retire in May, sidestepping a potential fight with shareholders over the bonus awarded to the bailed-out bank's chief executive.

Wolfgang Berndt, 67, will step down from the board at the bank's annual shareholder meeting, Lloyds confirmed yesterday. He is leaving months after approving a bonus worth more than 2 million for chief executive Eric Daniels, despite the bank's losses. Daniels waived the payment, following in the footsteps of counterparts at Royal Bank of Scotland.