Europe’s bankers skirt bonus rules

By Staff | February 18, 2014 | Last updated on February 18, 2014
1 min read

In Europe, bankers’ bonuses are limited to or one or two times their salaries—but London banks are flouting that rule, reports the New York Times.

Banks like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Barclays are restructuring how they pay their workers to get around the new law.

Read: New bonus rules to limit EU bankers’ pay

Instead of calling the pay a bonus, banks now issue what they call role-based pay, allowances, or reviewable salary, says the Times. While some in the European Parliament don’t think the name-change would stand up to the court challenge, in the mean time banks are undermining the spirit of the law—which was to stagger bonus pay over several years.

The point is to enable banks to claw the money back should the actions of a trader prove reckless.

Read more here.

Also read:

Barclays cuts jobs and pads bonuses

Details of Goldman CEO’s bonus released

Advisor.ca staff

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.