UK banks cut back on guaranteed bonuses
It has been revealed today that UK banks are now cutting back on the level of guaranteed bonuses used to attract top talent to the industry. A survey of 37 leading financial companies in the UK found that the level of guaranteed bonuses paid out in 2009 fell to 5% of overall bonuses against 10% in 2008 and 8% in 2007. This is exactly what the UK government requested from the UK banking arena as a means of cutting back on guaranteed incentives and the "greed is good factor".
However, that is not to say that the downward trend in guaranteed bonuses will last forever because many experts believe that the UK banking arena will at some point "revert to normal". This is an area of the economy which is highly competitive, very lucrative although it does carry above-average risks which many people are potentially unaware of. However, the problem for many people is the fact that UK taxpayers have literally injected billions upon billions of pounds to the benefit of all financial companies in the UK with very little return as yet.
As more and more people in the UK continue to struggle financially it is getting more and more difficult to see those in the financial sector apparently "living the high life" - although whether this is true or not is debatable.
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