A Message From The City of London

Quasar

I'm not in the least surprised that, once the public's eyes are taken off the crisis the bankers brought about, these latter are now starting to line their own pockets again. They do that because they CAN.

Go to the rest of Europe and see how the banks are far better regulated, in that they are not legally allowed to take the enormous risks that their US and UK counterpart are taking every day, supported by spinless governments in thrall of big business and too scared to tell the banks that the money they are gambling is not theirs, and then put some regulations and safeguards in place.

Meanwhile, thousands of old people in this country as usual will have to chose between eating or keeping warm this winter because there isn't enough money in the pension pot to provide them with a decent living, while a few penpushers in the city will have the headache of deciding which exotic resort to fly to at Christmas.

Time for the silent majority to start shouting and tell their MP to put the UK's financial house in order, and stop this empty promises scam.

purch

Why not expand on "Speak for yourself sucker !!!!

Oh, seeing as you won't play ball and let us all know your numerous other usernames, I'll play along.

You said.

"We have been duped."

Now I am assuming you were not using the Royal "We", so therefore you are saying that everyone has been duped.

Well I wasn't, neither were many other posters on this forum who are able to approach things with an open mind, and the ability to look beyond the headlines and the hype.

So, thats what the "Speak for yourself" means.

The "Sucker" bit was an insult I threw at you for having such a closed mind, and the inability to look beyond the headlines and the hype.

Understand ?

Now onto the "Twaddle"

Fast forward a year and the stock markets have shot up and the investors are sitting on massive profits

Only those who weren't "duped"

in the City wine bars they are celebrating like it’s the 90s again (the whisper is that if the banking sector didn’t actually plan this crisis, then they missed a trick and should engineer another crisis like this every couple of decades!)

Any proof to back up this statement, or this just an assumption born out of envy and frustration ?

A perfect scenario for the directors and management. Lower cost base, more profits, bigger dividends, and bigger boardroom bonuses.

Care to list the Companies making bigger profits, paying bigger dividends and bigger boardroom bonuses ?

The investment banks and analysts talked up the recession, forecasting years of depression. Markets fell. Then they bought into the market on the way down.

Can you provide details of these trades ?

purch

I'm not in the least surprised that, once the public's eyes are taken off the crisis the bankers brought about, these latter are now starting to line their own pockets again. They do that because they CAN.
Time for the silent majority to start shouting and tell their MP to put the UK's financial house in order, and stop this empty promises scam.

It is, without a shadow of doubt, way beyond a disgrace that there is even a mention of Bonuses and huge Salaries in the Banking sector.

Any Banking Institution who required Tax payers cash to save them from bankruptcy or insolvency, to shore up their balance sheets, or to insure their trades and books should not be in allowed to return to the old ways of renumeration until all the money is paid back, and the tax payer off the hook.

The puerile argument that they have to pay huge salaries and bonuses because they need to remain "competitive" is spurious, especially as virtually every bank is in a similar position.

nearlynew

purch wrote: »

It is, without a shadow of doubt, way beyond a disgrace that there is even a mention of Bonuses and huge Salaries in the Banking sector.

Any Banking Institution who required Tax payers cash to save them from bankruptcy or insolvency, to shore up their balance sheets, or to insure their trades and books should not be in allowed to return to the old ways of renumeration until all the money is paid back, and the tax payer off the hook.

The puerile argument that they have to pay huge salaries and bonuses because they need to remain "competitive" is spurious, especially as virtually every bank is in a similar position.

If you could print your own money, you would be in charge.
And be ble to do whatever you wanted.

Simples.

carolt

purch wrote: »

It is, without a shadow of doubt, way beyond a disgrace that there is even a mention of Bonuses and huge Salaries in the Banking sector.

Any Banking Institution who required Tax payers cash to save them from bankruptcy or insolvency, to shore up their balance sheets, or to insure their trades and books should not be in allowed to return to the old ways of renumeration until all the money is paid back, and the tax payer off the hook.

The puerile argument that they have to pay huge salaries and bonuses because they need to remain "competitive" is spurious, especially as virtually every bank is in a similar position.

You appear to agree with porterly, actually.

Synopsis - bankers are rubbish.

carolt

ruggedtoast wrote: »

That they are sitting pretty.

They're all :money:

and

and

while everyone else is :eek:

which makes us :mad:

Fab post - I'd love to see a post written purely, or almost entirely, in smilies.

One could have smilie poetry...

The creative possibilities are endless (well, no, actually they're quite limited, but it would be fun anyway. ).

purch

Synopsis - bankers are rubbish

It's all gone to Pot in the last 15 years

You appear to agree with porterly

I would Kill myself if I ever found myself with the same negative mindset as the OP, on ANY subject.

Quasar

purch wrote: »

The puerile argument that they have to pay huge salaries and bonuses because they need to remain "competitive" is spurious, especially as virtually every bank is in a similar position.

Quite so. And can do so as long as there are "other places" for them to lose their best people to.

When the financial world finally gets its corporate head out of its corporate ar.se, it will realise that the global economy needs to have a unified financial strategy - as witness the hasty assembling of a G20 to decide precisely on this matter. But this strategy needs to be reflected in a concerted effort to pass laws in each of these countries whereby banks can no longer make deals with money that often doesn't even exist - as in the case of high risk mortgages.

Which is another way of saying that if you have to pay through your nose and ar.se for someone with expertise, it's because if you don't then an even greedier bank will pay up for them. If this greed were not pandered to by goverments who have no clue as to the often highly complex, even arcane, dealings that banks keep coming up with, this situation would not arise. As it didn't in mainland Europe where most banks weathered the storm because, by law, they have to be well capitalised at all times.

porterly

purch wrote: »

The "Sucker" bit was an insult I threw at you for having such a closed mind, and the inability to look beyond the headlines and the hype.

I thought my post was looking beyond the gloom and doom headlines and hype. Perhaps my post didn't make my point well enough, but I was trying to say that the media was - and is - being used to put a spin on the events so that the crisis plays out nicely for the money makers who are one step ahead.

porterly wrote: »

Fast forward a year and the stock markets have shot up and the investors are sitting on massive profits.

purch wrote: »

Only those who weren't "duped".

Well no. It isn’t the case that those who weren’t duped are the ones who have done nicely out of the crisis and subsequent ‘recovery’. Plenty of people weren’t duped but hadn’t the means to profit out of it.

Negative mindset? I don't see that being critical of those who have exploited the crisis makes me negative.

Your other points. Fair enough I accept no proof as such. Only the size of profits and bonuses now being declared. We can be generous and say that these profits were not the result of taking advantage of the market turmoil and trading on the upswing that followed. But it certainly looks like a smoking gun.

Melsee_2

The american bank Goldman Sacs reported record profits. Now over here RBS investment banking arm has a bonus pot bigger than at the peak of the financial boom in 2007. The investment bankers are in line for bonuses of £1/4 million with the top 20 staff getting bonuses of £1m-£5m.

Is this really the same RBS that needed a bail out?

I read that Lord Myners wants the Government to veto these bonuses. But the bankers are arguing that they need the big bonuses to reward the skills of their people who performed so well in difficult times.