THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Myners, the City minister, has launched an extraordinary attack on unrepentant bankers and their “unacceptable” bonuses.
Bank chiefs have failed to show “contrition or humility” over their role in the global financial crisis and are still paid “far too much,” the minister said.
Even though the Government is the majority shareholder in several major banks, Lord Myners attacked “inadequate stewardship by the owners of the business” and accused owners of failing to control bankers’ pay.
Gordon Brown and his ministers have repeatedly promised to curb excessive pay in the City, but in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Lord Myners said bankers continue to enjoy “unacceptable” pay deals because of the “poor policing” of City firms.
“I think the top cadres in the banking industry are [still] paid far, far too much,” Lord Myners said. “They are over-rewarded for the skills they have, and the reason this is allowed to continue is inadequate stewardship by the owners of the business.”
After bailing out the British banking sector, the Government owns around 70 per cent of RBS and 43 per cent of Lloyds Banking Group. The state also owns Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley.
Stephen Hester, the Treasury-appointed chief executive of RBS, has a £9.6 million contract which has been criticised by opposition parties and trade unions. Other financiers at the state-controlled bank have also received large pay deals.
It emerged last month that RBS has paid multimillion-pound “golden hellos” to senior bankers. One, Antonio Polverino, has been guaranteed a £7 million payment for a year's work. >>> Mary Riddell and James Kirkup | Friday, September 18, 2009
