Standard Chartered bonus bungle shows investors need to speak up March 4, 2015 Falling profits, boardroom turmoil and a declining return on equity: by any measure, Standard Chartered’s 2014 was a year to forget. So the decision of Peter Sands (whose resignation last week was met with a surge in the bank’s share price) to forgo a variable pay award for the year was necessary to avoid a [...]
European Banking Authority cracks down on British banker’s bonus cap “allowance” loophole March 4, 2015 The European Union is ramping up pressure on the UK to comply with new laws on capping bonuses which could see London based banks reducing remuneration. Europe’s banking watchdog has issued long-awaited draft guidelines on remuneration which address a grey area allowing banks to circumvent the rules which cap bonuses at two times that of [...]
Standard Chartered share price rises as boss Peter Sands gives up bonus March 4, 2015 Shares in troubled bank Standard Chartered were up six per cent this morning, despite reporting a sharp drop in pre-tax profits. Investor optimism was clearly high, as outgoing boss Peter Sands, who, it was revealed last week, will be replaced by Bill Winters, announced he and the rest of the board will forego their bonuses. [...]
As RBS reports a £3.5bn loss, is George Osborne right that senior executives should not get bonuses? February 26, 2015 Steve Davies, education director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, says Yes The question is not whether bonuses are the correct way to remunerate people. It is whether RBS should be making such payments when the bank is incurring serious losses. Clearly, the answer should be no. When a business is in financial straits, the [...]
Rothschild eyes pre-election bonus payouts to avoid Ed Balls tax February 23, 2015 Financial giant Rothschild is considering whether to hand out 2014 bonuses to staff early in order to avoid potential taxes that could be brought in if Labour wins the election. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has promised to introduce a £1.5bn to £2bn tax on bonuses during its first year in office to fund a “jobs [...]
UK investment bank Rothschild could pay bonuses early in case Labour wins February 22, 2015 UK investment bank Rothschild is weighing up paying staff bonuses early, in order to avoid new taxes that could be brought in if Labour wins the general election. The Financial Times spoke with two sources “familiar with the bank’s thinking” and revealed the banks could pay bonuses to its 1,000 London staff before the traditional [...]
HSBC under pressure to lower bonuses following tax dodging inquiry February 21, 2015 Top executives at HSBC are being encouraged to waive their bonuses for the year, following allegations the bank abetted tax dodging clients. Shareholders, politicians and large sections of the media will place the bank’s bonuses under intense scrutiny when its annual reports are released on Monday. According to the Financial Times, shareholders [...]
Bonuses down despite strong year for Britain’s biggest banks February 19, 2015 Payouts for top bankers have taken a tumble so far this year, according to industry data seen by City A.M., as the bonus cap combined with investor and political pressure takes its toll. Preliminary data from pay benchmarking site Emolument.com shows bonuses for front office staff falling precipitously this year compared with last year’s pay [...]
In charts: Bonuses help push UK wage growth up to 2.1 per cent as unemployment falls February 18, 2015 The UK’s unemployment rate tumbled to 5.7 per cent between October and December, while growth in pay rose to its highest since 2013, according to "corking" figures published by the Office for National Statistics today. Pay leapt 0.4 percentage points to 2.1 per cent including bonuses, but slowed to 1.7 per cent excluding bonuses. The [...]
Ocado delivers first profit of £7.5m but cuts bonuses by 40 per cent February 12, 2015 Grocery delivery service Ocado reported its first profit yesterday, of £7.5m for 2014, up from the £5.1m loss in 2013, although top executives had their bonuses slashed by around 40 per cent. Executive directors only reached half their targets, resulting in total bonuses paid dropping nearly £800,000 compared to 2013 totals. Group sales went up [...]