Bonus fever continues among UK bankers
Most bankers based in the UK expect their bonuses to be larger in 2009 than in 2008 and haven't experienced a change to their pay structures, according to a survey from eFinancialCareers.com, a financial jobs web site.
The findings suggest that bonus season will show UK banks once again at odds with regulators and politicians, who are converging on changes to the way finance workers are paid. Finance ministers from the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations agreed over the weekend to tame bankers' pay by demanding that bonuses be paid over a longer period and be clawed back if investments turn sour.
"It is clear we are still only part-way through the process and, as a result, it is still too early to judge whether collectively enough has yet been done by all the organisations in the City of London to effect a lasting change," said John Benson, chief executive and co-founder of eFinancialCareers.com.
The taxpayer funds used to assist some of the UK's biggest banks has made bankers' pay a politically sensitive issue.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to curb the bonus culture in the financial sector. The financial policy spokesman for the opposition Conservative Party, George Osborne, warned on a BBC television interview Sunday that proof of whether bankers have learnt their lesson will come at the end of the year, when the bonuses are paid.
The eFinancialCareers.com survey provided an early indication that bankers' pay won't be curtailed this year. The survey of 486 finance professionals found that 53% expect their total compensation this year to be larger than last year and 25% expect it to be the same, eFinancialCareers.com said in a news release.
Of those expecting higher bonuses this year, 27% anticipate an increase of more than 51%, said the company, which conducted the survey in the second half of August.
Recruiters who work in London's financial sector say bankers are expecting these higher payouts because bank profits have improved markedly in the first half of this year, largely due to high returns on trading bonds and stocks for customers.
The poll showed that 39% of respondents had experienced changes to their pay structure.
-- Write to Adam Bradbery at adam.bradbery@dowjones.com -- This article can be viewed at http://europe.wsj.com/
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