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“The bosses of Britain’s biggest banks are on course to be awarded millions of pounds in share payments to circumvent a Brussels-imposed bonus cap – a move that risks inflaming the toxic row over City pay deals.
“The new payments would be in addition to bank leaders’ basic pay because the EU is limiting bonuses to 100% of salaries – or 200% if shareholders approve larger payments.
“The big-four high street banks are consulting shareholders about bonuses for chief executives that hit the 200% limit, alongside discussions on additional share payments so that none of the elite boardroom-level bankers would be worse off as a result of the cap.” Jill Treanor, The Guardian
In the context of draconian austerity measures, Hospital closures and privatisation of the National Health Service and cuts in welfare, education, housing and all social projects, this vacuum cleaner effect can only lead to a new crisis similar to the 2007/8 collapse of the economy, but this time people are watching, strangely enough, not reacting much, but future requests for bailouts will find the public better informed and angrier. Or so we hope.
