Dutch bankers' bonuses axed by people power

[scooterscot]

Good on them...

Politicians have voted to implement a 100% retrospective tax on all bonuses paid to executives at institutions that received state aid as a result of the financial crisis. In other words, no banker should get a bonus until the debt is cleared, and they should return payments made since 2008.

With whom would you invest money first? ING or RBS? Long term fiscal policy not short-selling and speculation is what is required for a profit I can believe in.

Campaign via social media networks blocks Dutch bankers' bonuses | Business | The Observer

[AtW]

Good idea.

It is worth noting though that RBS was part of the group that bought ABN AMRO.

[d000hg]

Interesting that anyone on CUK is in favour of a retrospective tax law. Especially since it targets the employees, not the company.

[AtW]

Interesting that anyone on CUK is in favour of a retrospective tax law.

That law targeted bonuses, ie - discretionary payments that clearly should not have been made in the first place.

A long jail sentence would have been more appropriate but that is much more difficult to achieve, so those who get hit by that tax should feel grateful they only lost bonus they should not have received in the first place.

[VectraMan]

That law targeted bonuses, ie - discretionary payments that clearly should not have been made in the first place.

So salary increases are okay, just not bonuses? That's water-tight then.

I guess this is good news for Britain and the rest of Europe. If you were half way good at anything, why would want to stay in a country that had ever introduced 100% retrospective taxes?

[AtW]

So salary increases are okay, just not bonuses?

Yes those are okay because they would make people want to keep their job rather than take massive risks, get HUGE short term bonus, often greatly exceeding salary and then retire and to hell with the bank and loans.

[scooterscot]

If you were half way good at anything, why would want to stay in a country that had ever introduced 100% retrospective taxes?

Starter for 10....

[d000hg]

That law targeted bonuses, ie - discretionary payments that clearly should not have been made in the first place.

A long jail sentence would have been more appropriate but that is much more difficult to achieve, so those who get hit by that tax should feel grateful they only lost bonus they should not have received in the first place.

So if I work in bank and they decide I've done a decent job and give me a big bonus, I'm a criminal because other people screwed up?

The "it's not salary" argument can be applied to taking dividends or loans from your own company which are retrospectively taxed as well.

[OwlHoot]

With whom would you invest money first? ING or RBS? ...

I wouldn't invest in ING for long

In a year or two every half-competent banker will be off to banks in New York or Hong Kong or somewhere, even London, leaving a load of monkeys behind at ING.

[Mich the Tester]

What really caused the trouble here was the combination of the bonusses with the fact that they froze the pensions; the bank claim to be profitable and for that reason the directors should get bonusses, but if they can't meet their pension commitments, then to my mind they're not profitable enough to be handing out bonusses. A Ltd director wouldn't get away with taking money out of the company while it can't satisfy the creditors, so neither should a PLC director.

The directors did indeed hand back the bonusses, but it seems to me they were living in cloud cuckoo land if they thought they'd get away with this; directors need to maintain good relations with government, consumers, customers, shareholders, creditors AND employees and they failed on several of those counts.

As for the vote in parliament to backdate 100% taxes on bonusses to 2008; this won't go ahead. It's unconstitutional and impossible to implement, and the parties who voted for it know that; they did it as a protest; a symbolic vote to give a signal to the banks that this behaviour just won't do.