I searched through some old Hongkong Bank annual accounts from the 1960s and 1970s. Does anyone know if the bank published its entire annual accounts in the South China Morning Post?
Annual accounts were not that long back then, but from the newspaper publications that I have seen, the bank did not include all the notes to the accounts. However, there were a few years where the bank did publish a note (in the newspaper) regarding their directors' remuneration.
For the year ended 12/31/1969, the bank paid HKD 2,172,934 or £149,389 at the old exchange rate peg of HKD 14.5455 per £1. This aggregate sum includes directors' fees, London Committee fees, Chairman's remuneration and special admin expenses. For the year ending 12/31/1970, the amount was HKD 2,385,287 (£163,988).
Hongkong Bank non-exec directors
The 1970 accounts listed twelve directors of the bank, but some of them were non-executive directors (NED). I see at least four NEDs: Sir J.D. Clague (Hutchison International); H.P. Foxon (Gilman); H.N.L. Keswick (Jardine); P.G. Williams (Dodwell). I do not know the size of the London Committee, though I think it was comprised of former directors.
It seems Hongkong Bank's pay may have been much higher than its British counterparts. In the late-1960s, the highest paid company chairmen in the UK were not bankers. The Barclays Bank chairman earned less than £11,000 in '69, although another director earned more at a shade over £18,000. If anyone has more detailed information about Hongkong Bank's (or Jardine and Hongkong Land's) executive remuneration in that era, please add to this topic.