David Cameron, the Conservative leader, has said that there should be no bonuses this year for senior staff at banks in which the Government holds a stake.
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: He was speaking after The Sunday Telegraph disclosed that Lloyds Banking Group has drawn up plans to pay about £120 million in bonuses to staff even as it teeters on the brink of majority state ownership.
Sources close to Lloyds said the bank had drafted the bonus proposals and was "in consultation" about them with UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the Treasury body that owns a 43 per cent stake in the bank.
The revelations follow the disclosure last week that Royal Bank of Scotland, almost 70 per cent of which is owned by the taxpayer, was looking to pay staff as much as £1 billion in bonuses this year.
Mr Cameron said bonuses in future years should be paid in shares in the banks which can be cashed in only when it has entirely repaid the support it has received from the taxpayer.
He said he had no objection to bonuses of £1,000-£2,000 to low-ranking employees who have met targets and do not share the blame for the current financial crisis.
But the Tory leader told BBC1's The Politics Show: "For these banks that are owned by the taxpayer, or where the taxpayer has a large stake, it is completely wrong to be paying bonuses."
Mr Cameron said he raised the issue with Gordon Brown at the time of the banking bail-out in October, but the Prime Minister had been "asleep on the job". >>> By Duncan Gardham and Mark Kleinman | Sunday, February 15, 2009
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown Must Go, Says HBOS Whistleblower Paul Moore
Paul Moore, the bank whistleblower whose revelations forced the resignation of a senior Government adviser, has called for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to go for his part in creating the financial crisis.
Mr Moore, who was sacked after raising concerns over excessive risk-taking at HBOS, said Mr Brown should be "held accountable for his failure to oversee the stability of the country".
Following his explosive evidence to the Commons Treasury Committee last week, Mr Moore said he is planning to send the MPs a further dossier of 30 documents which will point the finger of blame for the bust at Mr Brown.
After Mr Moore's revelations forced the resignation of the deputy chairman of the Financial Services Authority Sir James Crosby, Mr Brown told another parliamentary committee that HBOS's massive losses - estimated at more than £10 billion - were caused not by Government policy but by the bank's flawed business model.
But Mr Moore, who was head of risk at HBOS from 2002 to 2005, today told the Independent on Sunday: "The failure goes right to the heart of the system - to the internal supervisory system and right to the top of government.
"Brown must go. He cannot remain in office. >>> | Sunday, February 15, 2009
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Ministers Take Tougher Line on Bank Bonuses
Ministers and the Opposition hardened their line against bank bonuses today amid suggestions that Lloyds intended to go ahead with payouts worth £120m this year.
Tony McNulty, Employment Minister, said that any bank employee who had responsibility for the disastrous business model adopted by the banks should "not get a penny". Junior staff should be able to get between £1,000 and £2,000, he said, but anyone with a significant involvement in the business model should be paid nothing extra at all. >>> Philip Webster, Political Editor, and Jenny Booth | Sunday, February 15, 2009
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