City minister blasts bank executives on bonuses

by Gill Montia

Story link: City minister blasts bank executives on bonuses

Lord Myners, who was appointed Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury in October, has spoken out about the salaries and bonuses commanded by executives of the UK’s beleaguered banking sector.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the City minister said that the golden days of huge bonuses are over, describing some banking heads as having been grossly over-rewarded and as having no sense of the broader society around them.

Lord Myners went on to reveal that prior to the Government’s £500 billion bank bail-out announced on 8th October, the UK banking system came very close to collapse when during a two to three hour period major depositors were primed to make withdrawals from a number of large banks.

When questioned about the moral obligations surrounding huge bonuses and knighthoods, the minister said that bank executives should decide for themselves whether to hand these back.

According to The Sunday Times report, the heads of banks that have so far been bailed out with taxpayers’ money are due to receive bonuses and shares worth up to £5 million each.

Last week, Northern Rock paid staff a 10% bonus for hitting targets that enabled the lender to repay its loan to the Treasury ahead of schedule.