Reply #6: Stampede by banks to beat bonus crackdown: Lloyds and Barclays will both pay out millions [View All]

[Demeter]

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article5672126.ece

Banks dependent on taxpayer support are planning to rush out hundreds of millions of pounds in bonuses to senior bankers and traders before a threatened crackdown.

As ministers prepared to curb excessive remuneration, it emerged that Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group were poised to follow Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) by paying bonuses within weeks.

Lloyds, which has taken £17 billion in rescue money from the Government, appears ready to give hundreds of millions of pounds to top executives and more junior staff.

Barclays, which has tapped the Bank of England for billions of pounds in loans and guarantees, is believed to be planning even larger payouts. According to the terms of its purchase of the North American division of the collapsed Lehman Brothers, Barclays is due to pay $2.5 billion (£1.7 billion) in bonuses to traders and dealmakers on Wall Street in the next few days....

READ ON ABOUT HOW IT'S GOING OVER (LIKE A LEAD BALLOON) WITH THE BRITISH PUBLIC