Is it right for UK banks to reward staff members?
As the fury of the Royal Bank of Scotland's proposed £1 billion bonus scheme continues to build many people are starting to ask whether it is right for UK banks to reward staff members. It is easy to forget that these are businesses which would likely have collapsed had the UK taxpayer not stepped in with substantial funding. While all of the UK rescue packages seem to be built around the banking sector there are thousands of operations in the UK which have not had a penny in assistance from the UK government.
While it would be foolish to suggest that better quality members of staff do not need to be retained in any operation, the Royal Bank of Scotland is on the verge of announcing a record loss which will rewrite the UK history books. Even though the vast majority of banking workers in the UK have had no direct responsibility or real involvement in the ongoing banking debacle, is it right to pay bonuses to company employees of struggling businesses. If the UK taxpayer had not stepped in with a life-saving investment would these banks be in position to take such action?
This latest move simply blows open the UK government's apparent policy of strictly regulating the banks in which taxpayers now have a substantial shareholding.
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