The head of Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 70% owned by the state, has agreed to defer a chunk of his controversial pay package for two years, the bank said today.
The group revealed last week that chief executive Stephen Hester would be paid more than £9.6m sterling in cash and shares in return for the bank's long-term success.
But the news sparked shareholder unease because RBS was bailed out by the taxpayer last year amid the collapse of the global banking sector.
Hester had been offered a basic annual salary of £1.2m, about £2m in annual non-cash bonus payments and some £6.4m in long-term share and stock option awards, in addition to a pension.
However, a company spokesman confirmed today that more than half of the long-term awards - a potential £3.4m - would be pushed back two years until 2014.
Hester will receive his hefty pay deal should the share price of RBS pass 70 pence. In London trade today, it stood at 39 pence after tumbling over the past year after the government's gigantic bailout.
Last month, Hester's predecessor Fred Goodwin agreed to take a 40% pension cut following public anger over his deal.
Goodwin, who came to symbolise the greed of bankers blamed for the worst financial crisis in decades, saw his annual pension cut to £342,500 after being forced out.
RBS was ravaged by the credit crunch and its 2007 takeover of Dutch group ABN Amro at the top of the market. Last year, it recorded Britain's biggest-ever corporate loss of more than £24 billion.
