$2.5 billion bonus for Lehman's New York staff. Really.

[LiberalHeart]

Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (£1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night.

The revelation sparked fury among the workers' former colleagues, Lehman's 5,000 staff based in London, who currently have no idea how long they will go on receiving even their basic salaries, let alone any bonus payments. It also prompted a renewed backlash over the compensation culture in global finance, with critics claiming that many bankers receive pay and rewards that bore no relation to the job they had done.

A spokesman for Barclays said the $2.5bn bonus pool in New York had been set aside before Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States a week ago. Barclays has agreed that the fund should continue to be ring-fenced now it has taken control of Lehman's US business, a deal agreed by American bankruptcy courts over the weekend.

More here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/fury-at-25bn-bonus-for-lehmans-new-york-staff-937560.html

[Stellabella]

1. That pool should NOT go to those parasites.

I don't know where it should go, but if those crooks are paid for raping the Treasury, there will be hell to pay.

[AtomicKitten]

2. We need to wring the parasites out and take back what is now our money.

[az chela]

3. This is fucking bullshit and cannot happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Wielding Truth]

4. Hey, the new owners say, "Sorry , No Bonuses!"

[aquart]

5. No, Barclay's is fine with it.

[The Wielding Truth]

6. We are the new owners.

[JerseygirlCT]

7. How does that work?

If you've got liquid assets "set aside" like that, how in the world can you declare bankruptcy and get to keep those assets?

They belong to your creditors, boys. Hand it all over. The party's over.

[dmr]

8. Imagine you or I telling the bankruptcy judge we set aside

a good portion of liquid assets that can't be touched. The judge would hand our asses and hubris right back at us, and then some.

[elehhhhna]

9. yep.

[earth mom]

10. You mean all the workers the media tried to make us feel sorry for because they were losing

their jobs?!

:grr:

[OakCliffDem]

11. Kick