Among the latest groups bothering the financial service industry of recent times are their very own shareholders. Executive pay in the financial services industry have publically generated controversy for many years, but now the shareholders have had enough, and a rise in shareholder activism attempting to lower executive pay has been seen. This sudden dissatisfaction with executive remuneration is due to the poor financial performance of the financial service industry itself. However, despite poor financial performance and low returns to the shareholders, exuberant remuneration packages have been the norm in the financial services sector for decades, as it was believed that lowering pay will hamper performance. It seems that investors have realised that the high pay for finance executives has not improved the profitability of their respective firms, and instead has ramped up costs in a time when cost cutting is in order.