Royal Bank of Scotland set to announce £1.3 billion bonus pot
Despite the fact that Royal Bank of Scotland is set to report another year of massive losses many in the city expect confirmation of a £1.3 billion bonus pot which will be predominantly targeted at the investment banking side of the business. Despite the fact that the traditional banking operation was bailed out to the tune of billions of pounds by the UK government, the investment banking division continues to prosper and remains profitable.
However, when you bear in mind that the Royal Bank of Scotland itself could easily have gone out of business without taxpayer funded intervention this is certain to cause significant unrest amongst UK taxpayers. Even though the economy is supposedly moving back into a growth phase, the financial pain of the recession is still evident in many homes and businesses up and down the country. It is also worth remembering that taxpayers are still nurturing significant losses on the acquisition of a majority share stake in the business, something which is unlikely to change in the short term.
Earlier this week we saw Barclays bank announce record profits and a massive bonus pool, again predominantly aimed at the company's investment bankers, and this week the UK banking sector will again be in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.
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