Bank bonuses ‘essential’

Wednesday 11th November 2009, 3:00PM GMT.

Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers Association Picture: MATTHEW HOTTON (00830246)

BANKERS have to do their jobs properly to restore some of the trust that has been lost because of the recession, according to the head of the British Bankers Association.

Angela Knight says that it can be ‘nasty and hard’ for bankers working in the industry at the moment, who are being blamed for causing the credit crunch.

She believes that banks should be allowed to get on with banking, rather then be dragged into politics.

‘My firm belief is that the banking industry should be allowed to get on with banking,’ she said. ‘We are the political football. We want the politics to be taken away from banking.

‘It can be nasty and hard. It’s impossible not to know how people feel. We are under enormous siege and very pressured but morale is extremely high and people are performing better than I have ever seen them. In my job, if you are not an optimist you would jump out the window.’

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1
Sarah Hughes

November 11, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Angela Knight, as someone so accurately described her ” the Lord Haw Haw of the UK banking industry”. Ms Knight denies that the bonuses structures and incentive schemes for dealmakers in the UK finance industry and elsewhere had nothing to do with the disasterous collapse in lending standards as the emphasis shifted from accurately assessing credit risk with loans kept on a bank’s balance sheet to one of simply generating more transactions and resulting fees as loans were securitised and pushed off balance sheet in all those wonderful opaque structures domiciled in places like Jersey. Well all I can say is I hope you are blissfully happy in your Alice in Wonderland world. The rest of the us in the industrialised world will be paying off the damage done for a good decage and maybe longer.

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2
Thicko Micko

November 11, 2009 at 3:28 pm

Headline – “bank bonuses essential” I’ve read this through twice now and I can’t see anyone saying that. I know for a fact that RBS has cancelled all bonuses for staff and have the letter to prove it. It may be that some of the money boys will continue to get big bonuses ( I know of one guy who got £250,000 comission ) but the rest of us will get nothing.

As for it’s not bankers starting the recession, most of us didn’t it’s the big boys who will likely continue with bonuses on top of living rent free that will be getting a bonus.

I’m not complaining, no bonus and no pay rise but I’m lucky to have a job, it grates though when I see friends and colleagues being made redundant when we still have over 150 staff living rent free on ex pats contracts.

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3
Sarah Hughes

November 11, 2009 at 5:37 pm

Sorry my post should have read “denies that the bonus structures… had anything to do with the collapse in lending standards”. Just so furious at the propaganda Angela Knight trots out. The kind of person that could turn you into a communist.

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4
Said as Seen

November 21, 2009 at 9:17 pm

Thank goodness lessons haven’t been learnt. If for one am looking forward to a bonus even though my bank is barely making a profit.

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5
Arnald

November 22, 2009 at 12:10 am

I challenge her to a debate on exactly what is important in life. Poor lamb.

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