HSBC shareholders gave chairman Douglas Flint an uncomfortable ride at a tetchy annual meeting in London as he fended off disgruntlement at the bank’s seemingly endless battles with regulators.

But the Glaswegian who has chaired the UK’s biggest bank since 2010 promised to stay in place long enough to ensure a smooth succession when he steps down probably next year.

A year ago HSBC suffered a 24per cent vote against its remuneration report, and the chairman admitted that the Swiss tax evasion scandal had damaged the bank’s reputation.

This time the vote against pay was less than 10per cent, but Mr Flint was taxed with the more recent revelations in the ‘Panama papers’, and was asked by shareholder Jessica Hall “what steps are you taking to mend this broken trust and establish yourselves as a responsible corporate actor?”

Mr Flint said: “Reports associate HSBC over 20 years with something like 2000 structures through this particular firm - less than five per cent of those exist today.

“This was a trend in the mid-2000s that has basically passed.”

The bank is mired in investigations into Bernie Madoff, subprime mortgages, Fifa corruption, Swiss tax affairs, Libor and other exchange fixing, identity protection products, credit swap defaults, and the hiring of ‘princelings’ in Asia. It is also being monitored by the US for its response to a Mexican money-laundering scandal in 2012 for which it was fined £1.2bn.

Challenged by a spokesman for ‘Move Your Money’ that the bank had “extracted concessions from regulators” to drop UK investigations into its activities, Mr Flint said: “That is incredibly ill-informed. We never sought nor were offered anything from government, there was no negotiation.” He added, to applause: “You don’t want to believe it but it’s the truth.”

On why the reports to the US authorities on its activities had not been published, Mr Flint said confidentiality was critical for the cooperation of other authorities and full disclosures. On whether the bank stood to lose its licence in the US, he said: “We are doing everything conceivable to avoid that consequence.”

Shareholder John Farmer said the bank’s financial performance had been “sluggish for years”, with total shareholder return of about 30per cent over seven years, well below the FTSE-100, over a period which coincided with the tenure of the chairman and chief executive. He added: “Its ethical performance has been woeful. What does the remuneration committee chairman see as the appropriate measures for addressing these concerns in future?”

Mr Flint said the share price was “of huge importance” and the five-year return was “clearly not what we wanted”. Mr Gulliver had earlier said: “Our ability to pay an industry-leading dividend continues to set HSBC apart.”

Sam Laidlaw, chairman of the remuneration committee, said the overall bonus pool had been cut by $631m while the chief executive had been paid out at only 45per cent of maximum bonus and his overall pay was down by 11 per cent.

Mr Flint said HSBC was not the highest-paying bank, as “when we have lost senior colleagues they have left for a considerable uplift”.

The new pay policy, which attracted a 96per cent investor vote in favour, will reduce by seven per cent the maximum incentive available to executives.

Shareholder Patricia Galvin said non-executive directors were obviously happy to serve at fees of a minimum £95,000 as “the money is pouring in”, but they appeared to have too many other responsibilities, and numbers should be cut to reduce costs. Mr Flint said all 14 directors gave more than the 35 to 40 days a year demanded, adding: “The cost is a fraction of the value they deliver.”

On the EU referendum, Mr Flint said it was “not appropriate for us to be drawn into a political debate” but said the bank’s own economic research was “very clear” about the advantages of EU membership for the UK.

Challenged by environmental groups which want immediate divestment from the bank’s exposure to mining and coal, chief executive Stuart Gulliver said coal provided 30per cent of the UK’s electricity, 72 per cent in India and 75per cent in China. “We have to work with clients to support them through a just and orderly transition.”

He said the bank was accredited by the UN’s Green Climate Fund,.