* Nearly a quarter of votes cast against pay report
* Latest British company criticised over boardroomremuneration
* CEO moved to cede some of his long-term bonus
* Higher pay partly due to shift away from insurance-chairman
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Standard Life was given anembarrassing dressing down by shareholders at its AGM, withreaction to its 2015 pay report delivering a metaphorical bloodynose to an insurer that in its role as an investor in othercompanies has itself been critical of high executive pay.
Nearly a quarter of shareholder votes cast were against theStandard Life remuneration report, joining the string ofrebellions at AGMs of British companies including BP andWeir Group.
Standard Life Chief Executive Keith Skeoch, who attackedboardroom pay during the so-called shareholder spring of 2012,last week volunteered to cut his own long-term incentive plan(LTIP) to a maximum 400 percent of salary from 500 percent.
But Skeoch's move may have come too late for someshareholders, who would have voted before the announcement,Chairman Gerry Grimstone told a media briefing after Tuesday'smeeting.
"Pay is very high across financial services, all chairmenknow that," Grimstone said, though he added that he was startingto see downward pressure on pay.
"We are looking at a globally competitive marketplace. IfLondon wants to be competitive as a global financial centre, ithas to attract the best talent."
Grimstone said that Standard Life's shift towards assetmanagement and away from its traditional insurance business hasput more pressure on the company to offer higher pay.
Shareholder advisory services Pensions & Investment ResearchConsultants (PIRC) and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)had both recommended a vote against the pay report
The shareholder groups criticised the size of Skeoch's LTIPdeal and the bonuses paid to former chief executive David Nishafter his resignation and a "golden hello" payment made to boardmember Colin Clark.
Skeoch's total pay for 2015 was 3.64 million pounds ($5.26million).
A recent Reuters analysis of executive pay at Britain's topcompanies showed that the average pay of CEOs fell in 2015, buta deeper slide in corporate profits meant their cut of thespoils continued a decade-long rising trend.
Grimstone reiterated at the AGM that a British exit from theEuropean Union would be "potentially damaging" for the UKeconomy and for companies like Standard Life.
Asset managers have benefited from the EU's "passporting"system, which allows them to sell their funds across Europewithout setting up local offices.
Edinburgh-headquartered Standard Life was holding its AGM inLondon for the first time and plans to rotate the meetingsbetween London and Edinburgh in future. ($1 = 0.6916 pounds)
(Editing by David Goodman)
