Barclays chairman Marcus Agius has apologised to shareholders for badly communicating its pay policy to them.
Mr Agius also promised higher dividends in future in an attempt to take the sting out of a row over the bank's remuneration policy.
"There is a significant minority of shareholders who feel that we got some of these judgments (on remuneration) wrong for 2011 and that we have not sufficiently taken their views on board," Mr Agius said today at the bank's annual meeting.
Barclays did not communicate its case well enough, he said.
"For this I apologise and I assure you that in the future we will be engaging differently and more purposefully with shareholders in order to ensure that we obtain a broader level of support on remuneration policy and practice."
Mr Agius said that as profit rose, the bank expected to "materially" increase the dividend shareholders receive.
The meeting was tense as Mr Agius's speech was interrupted by occasional heckling and sarcastic laughter.
He added: "We recognise the reputational damage that has been caused by the remuneration debate."
Bank's quarterly results hailed
Chief executive, Mr Diamond followed the chairman and started by hailing the bank's first quarter results, published yesterday.
The bank recorded a 22% rise in underlying pre-tax profits to £2.4 billion, driven by a strong performance at its UK retail arm.
Turning to pay, Mr Diamond said: "We recognise the shareholder concerns and we're committed to making further progress."
In addition, a £5.7 million tax payment made on Mr Diamond's behalf when he moved from the US to London to take up the role sparked particular anger among investor groups.
The American banker tried to win support by offering to take half of his £2.7 million all-shares bonus for 2011 if certain performance targets are not met within three years.
Mr Diamond was followed by Ms Carnwath, head of the Barclays' remuneration committee, who introduced herself as "the new girl on the block".
Defending pay, Ms Carnwath said: "We reduced awards significantly in 2011."
In response, one shareholder heckled "Not enough", triggering laughter and applause from the auditorium.
Ms Carnwath went on: "We will continue to seek to push down remuneration levels in the context of the environment in which we operate."
Ms Carnwath was met with further taunts, such as "Why have you only just woken up to this?"
Mr Agius later called for the meeting to be held in a "responsible" and "adult" manner.
