Investors should oppose HSBC on pay, chairman re-election - PIRC

LONDON (Reuters) - Shareholders should reject the executive pay plans of Britain's biggest bank HSBC (HSBA.L) and the re-election of chairman Douglas Flint at its annual general meeting, a leading shareholder advisory group said on Tuesday.

Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC), which advises pension funds and others on how to vote at AGMs, said it had concerns over the variable pay of Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver which exceeded 200 percent of his salary.

In addition, it said his benefits package was worth 50 percent of his salary, "which is considered excessive".

HSBC said it could not immediately respond to a request for comment on PIRC's guidance.

While some of HSBC's future benefit plans for its executives have been reined in, PIRC said the maximum potential awards are still "highly excessive", and should be opposed at HSBC's AGM on April 22.

PIRC also said it backed an 'oppose' vote on the re-election of Chairman Douglas Flint to the board.

The group said the fact Flint had previously served as the bank's finance director during times when it had been fined for regulatory breaches meant he had failed in his responsibilities and made his current position "untenable".

(Reporting by Simon Jessop and Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Rachel Armstrong)