Results tagged “bankers”

Ed Miliband channelled Benjamin Disraeli as he called for "one nation banking" in a speech at Canary Wharf this morning.

The Labour leader said the path the banking industry had taken in recent years would lead to a separation of society "economically, geographically, and socially" and said he would change the rules to create "a fairer society and an economy that pays its way in the world".

New EU rules came into force this month designed to limit the size of bankers' bonuses. Extra remuneration in Europe will be capped, with at least half paid in shares or contingent capital.

Also, in a bid to stop what is perceived as rewards for reckless short-term risk, up to 60 per cent of the bonus will be deferred for at least three years.

Bob Diamond, chief executive of Wharf bank Barclays, faced a grilling by members of the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday, where he was questioned for more than two hours on issues including bonuses.

He refused to make promises to forgo his own bonus, which could be in the region of £8million.

The financial crisis has shaken the public's faith in banks, governments and their own security.

However, Spectator Business editor and former investment banker Martin Vander Weyer doesn't believe it's time to look into a "wacky alternative" to capitalism.

WHARFERS are feeling the squeeze but fears of a full-blown recession are premature according to one economist.

Although the economy is slowing down, it is not in recession, and nor is it likely to be any time soon, according to Dr Tim Leunig, a leading economic historian at the London School of Economics.