THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A leading shareholder group has written to all UK banks demanding that they cut individual pay-outs and overhaul their remuneration structures.
In the latest attempted crackdown on excessive pay, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has told banks to award smaller bonuses to investment bankers without resorting to increasing base pay to make up for it.
The ABI said that now is the time to curb total pay because bankers are unlikely to quit for a competitor, with very few banks hiring and most cutting jobs.
The letter is the latest development in the intensifying row over "out-of-control" executive pay and comes as the Bank of England is considering changes to the way bankers' bonuses are measured, making it far harder to justify multi-million pound awards.
The letter from the ABI, sent to UK listed banks on Monday, said: "Our members are concerned about the level of returns that shareholders receive compared to the returns given to employees. Members believe that in recent years this balance has been inequitable, with too much value being delivered to employees in contrast to the dividends paid to shareholders.
"The reduction in employee pay-out ratios needs to be achieved by reducing individual remuneration pay-outs to highly paid employees, including executive directors, and not by just reducing employee numbers." Read on and comment » | Louisa Peacock, Jobs editor | Monday, December 05, 2011
