Bonus

There is no way they should be being paid a bonus when the money belongs to taxpayers! Why didn't the government state when they bailed them out, that this money should catergorically not be used for that purpose - and they should have only bailed them on the proviso that their higher eaners had taken a huge wage cut

(not that I know anything much about these things but just my naive thoughts on the subject!)

[punyXpress]

When HMGov first bailed out the banks in ?October? my first thought was that Xmas bonuses were safe for the *ankers who caused so much of the problem.
What? me cynical ?
I hesitate to suggest anything that would assist their partners in crime ( for that is what it is ) but there should be a Bonus Tax of 200% - the bigger the bonus, the more the tax. Unfortunately anything collected would just be lost in HMGov's bottomless pit!

There is nothing wrong with bonuses if they are set up in the right way so we shouldnt throw the baby out with the bath water. I also disagree with slashing high salaries. Yes they should be reviewed in terms of affordabiilty, but again we shouldnt just look to punish people just because they are richer than us.

The banking sector got it badly wrong and started the recession, but they are not the cause, we all are. Our financial system is fundamental flawed as it relies on continual and infiinte growth but by very inference this is impossible. We were always going to fall from grace it was a matter of when not if. Bonuses had very little to do with it.

While I do agree that Bonuses shouldnt be paid from public money, the press's moral stance and blaming this for the recession is laughable.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Rog

While I do agree that Bonuses shouldnt be paid from public money

Thats my thoughts on it, so those banks that the government has bailed out those people shouldnt be getting a bonus.

A bonus should be something you've worked for, not something you're given as a matter of course.

The press as usual reports what they want and ignore the truth. The £1billion bonus that RBS is reportedly planning to pay, is not to the executives, it is to the front line staff on the shop floor, the ones on as much as 10k a year with a bonus of 5%. Here lies the problem. The fat cats in the exec offices that made all the mistakes are not getting their bonus. The bonus in question is a profit related bonus (as in most sectors) ie make x profit get y bonus. The Retail banks (all of them, rbs, hbos, lloyds, barclays etc) ie the ones on the high street dealing with us all made profit, it was completely seperate businesses within their groups that made all the bad investments and losses but unfortunately have all been lumped together. Why shouldnt their worker egt what they are entitled too. Remember all that the press say is not gospel.

If you work in a shop selling fruit, veg, bakery and sundries and at the start of the year are promised a bonus if you sell x amount of fruit, through the year the boss takes some of the companies capital and makes bad investments so over the year the company makes a loss, howevr you have sold the x amount of fruit you were contracted to, should you not get your bonus???

Originally Posted by Luckypants

Surely that is fraud? She should surely be facing criminal proceedings for this? Or did she make the admission under the cover of Parliamentary Privilege?

I'd be doing her for Malfeasance in Public Office to!

Likewise I think the Lords who were changing laws for cash should be locked up too. When you're in a position of power, the penalties for abusing that position should have equal stature to the level of power.

where do banks get the idea that they're not answerable to anyone so can do what and how they see fit.
they are answerable to their customers. if i banked with rbos by monday morning my business would be elsewhere. now if everyone did that they'd be in a right pickle.
a word of caution, not thought it through yet so the plan might have drastic complications.

Originally Posted by Gene genie

where do banks get the idea that they're not answerable to anyone so can do what and how they see fit.
they are answerable to their customers. if i banked with rbos by monday morning my business would be elsewhere. now if everyone did that they'd be in a right pickle.
a word of caution, not thought it through yet so the plan might have drastic complications.

Why?, as i've stated above it is not the retail section of any of the banks that have made these mistakes, ie the bit we deal with, its a completely seperate part of the business, so if your bank are providing a srvice that meets your requirements then why move just cause another part of their business made mistakes.

If you buy a sv and take it to a suzuki dealer for service and are happy with the service you get but suzuki cars make some abd decisions and cause suzuki group to make a loss, do you stop taking your sv to the dealer for service that you are happy with?? Of course you dont.

Originally Posted by Rog

The banking sector got it badly wrong and started the recession, but they are not the cause, we all are.

Really? How? Must say I don't like being tarred with that brush

As far as I am aware Barclays didn't take the government up on any of their bail-out money, because it placed restrictions on what they could do with their profits.

Also, £6 billion is 99% (given that's normally how it's reported, but I haven't confirmed for this case) *including* bonuses. I'm confused what's wrong with this situation - they made money and paid bonuses??

RBS are a different matter entirely and I don't know what they will be giving out. But bear in mind £1 billion is not a huge bonus pool by bank standards, not by a long way...