Rules capping bankers’ bonuses could be scrapped after Brexit, according to Bank of England chief Mark Carney.
The cap was put in place in the wake of the financial crisis when reckless bankers received huge payouts despite making huge losses. And we, the taxpayers, were left to pick up the tab for bank bailouts.
Scrapping it now is in nobody’s interest except the bankers. We need to speak up and let Mark Carney know that we want to keep bankers’ bonuses capped, and not let Brexit be an excuse to return to the ‘fat cat’ culture of the past.
Mark Carney: don’t scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses!
The bonus cap was introduced in January 2014 as part of a range of measures to regulate Europe’s banking sector, forcing it to insure itself against the kind of weaknesses that led to the global financial crisis and left taxpayers footing the bill.
Then, reckless behaviour was rewarded with bankers received multi-million payouts despite record losses and suspicion of criminal activity.
Repealing the cap now would signal Britain is only thinking about the rich after Brexit. At a time when our public services are already on their knees after years of austerity, we just can’t afford a return to ‘casino banking’ that relies on taxpayers to cough up after bankers are rewarded for reckless behaviour.
Mark Carney: don't scrap EU rules that cap bankers’ bonuses, after Brexit!
Our community has come together in the past and challenged the rich and powerful. We fought back after HSBC was shown to be criminally advising clients how to evade their taxes. We took action when it was shown how European companies were using Luxembourg to dodge their taxes too.
Now we have a real opportunity to make sure the chips fall in a way that's fair to everyone after Brexit, by demanding the Bank of England keep this cap on bankers' bonuses.
More information
The Guardian. 29 November 2017.