“Shareholders in Bank of New York Mellon, the world’s largest custody bank, are voicing concern about expenses and executive pay ahead of its annual meeting on Tuesday.

“Two top-30 shareholders said they were disillusioned by a failure to keep expenses under control and meet targets on profitability since the company was formed in 2007 from the merger of Bank of New York – the oldest bank in the US created by one of America’s founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton – and Mellon Financial, an asset management firm.

“Gerald Hassell, who replaced Bob Kelly as chief executive after a boardroom clash in 2011, has a target of 10 per cent return on equity. But the bank has failed to meet its targets, and trailed rivals, such as State Street, in profitability, with margins several percentage points lower and persistently higher costs.

“It has become of increasing concern to us,” said one large shareholder. “We’ve noticed it and it has continued and it is in contradiction to the objectives and plans by the CEO when he took over.

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