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Like politicians facing the electorate, the masters of the financial universe find exposure to their shareholders can be a humbling experience - as if things had not been humbling enough for the past couple of months.

TV cameras were not allowed in the cavernous Glasgow conference hall where .

That was as well for chairman Sir Victor Blank.

His patience lasted 90 minutes or so, and then began to get.

He will have felt he had earned his late lunch, after being whisked from a bank door, dodging the waiting media.

Sir Victor had suffered several barbs about the one-third boost to the directors' pay budget, but most of the attacks were on HBOS for being "terminally diseased" and "a very large failed bank".

Lloyds TSB directors were ridiculed with the words of economist JK Galbraith when he said of bankers in 1929 that they had succeeded on a large scale, but only in swindling themselves.

The most telling question was a plea to reconcile the two contradictory stories being told by Sir Victor: that Lloyds TSB is so strong that it can take over the weak HBOS, while Lloyds TSB is so weak that it needs £5.5bn of government support, and that it would require more were it not for joining forces with HBOS.

Amid strong doubts about the government's intentions over the deal, one gent said the bailout deal was like having his house robbed by people who can then dictate the law on house-breaking.

This, it was suggested, was a deal "cooked up at a cocktail party with a Prime Minister willing to ride roughshod over a law designed to protect the public interest".

To applause, it was claimed: "most of us think this deal stinks".

Sir Victor wasn't so much feeling the shareholders pain as, in his own words, "sharing some of your despair" about the share price.

He explained that Lloyds TSB had decided two years ago to go on the acquisition trail.

From adversity, sometimes opportunity arises, and here was a chance to make a big bit of banking history.

Yes, the Bank of Scotland brand would be retained, along with TSB, Scottish Widows and, of course, Lloyds.

There would be inevitable job losses, but this would be handled with respect and dignity, and there is to be a review of outsourcing and offshoring.

From chief executive Eric Daniels came reassurances that the lessons of past acquisitions were being learned, and that it was probable no takeover had had so much research into the risks involved.

Five thousand staff days have been dedicated to pouring over HBOS books, it was stressed.

This figure was supposed to impress the shareholders. But they looked unconvinced as they left, satisfied only that they had made Sir Victor squirm for a couple of hours.

More than 90% of the proceedings had been hostile to the takeover of HBOS and the conditions attached to the government investment.

The vote, however, went in precisely the opposite direction, with big institutional investors giving the plans a 96% vote of confidence.

The takeover, and the creation of a high street banking giant, are very much on track.