UKFI says resisted government attempt to cut RBS, Lloyds pay

LONDON (Reuters) - The body that owns Britain's bank stakes resisted proposals by the government to cut bonuses at Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds more sharply, its boss said on Tuesday.

Robin Budenberg, chairman of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), said Chancellor George Osborne had proposed steeper cuts in bankers' pay than were "commercially acceptable", and so the body limited the scale of the cuts.

"I believe we make sure that banks are able to run in the best interests of their shareholders," Budenberg said at a hearing by UK MPs. The MPs had questioned whether UKFI was run at "arm's length" from the government, and made its decisions purely based on commercial grounds.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Steve Slater)