The chairman of Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds admitted today that criminal activity uncovered 10 years ago had "cast a long shadow" on the group and undermined trust in it.
At the Lloyds AGM in Edinburgh, chairman Lord Blackwell spoke of the fraud committed at HBOS Reading when small businesses were wrongly classified as high risk and transferred to the bank's Impaired Assets Division.
Shareholders also took the opportunity to take the bank to task over executive pay.
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One shareholder said: "Greed is good - no it's not. It's not good for the individual or for society.
"Fair pay is good. Paying people hundreds of thousands and even millions of pounds a year where we have food banks and people on benefits is wrong in a civilised society."
Lord Blackwell said chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio and other directors have "earned through their performance the rewards that they are entitled to".
"It's important that we can get the best quality of people to lead this group. Not only for shareholders but we play a vital role for the UK economy and need to have the best people we can," he added.
