Cracking down on bankers’ bonuses
On the 1st of January 2011, new EU rules came into effect, which force senior bankers to defer at least half of their bonuses for a minimum of three years and which limit the cash element of bonuses to 30% of the total (20% for particularly large bonuses).
Sharon Bowles MEP was at the forefront of forcing through these tough new rules after the banking crisis in 2008/2009. As chair of the European Parliament’s influential Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Sharon was instrumental in stopping a system of rewarding failed bankers with excessive cash bonuses or bonus style pension pots. Bonuses dressed up as pension benefits will be stored as a bank asset for a minimum of five years, so bankers will now be the first to take the hit if their bank performs poorly or collapses.
For more information, please contact sharon.bowles@europarl.europa.eu.