Earlier today the Royal Bank of Scotland reported a loss of £2 billion ($3.13 billion) for last year, which CEO Stephen Hester noted was in line with the estimates he projected in his five-year turnaround plan for the bank. To that end, Hester told reporters that contrary to popular belief, his team is working quite hard, “defusing the biggest-ever time bomb put in a banking balance sheet” and so, looking at it that way, “we are making progress.” Progress which should be rewarded monetarily, which is why bonuses were in fact distributed this year, to the ire of the many, many critics giving Hester guff for keeping his people moderately happy or at least not homicidal. Having said that, those thinking the firm has the money to not only pay bonuses but raise base pay *and* bring in dancing chickens should think again. Read more »
bonus watch
Applicable if your last name is Moynihan, first name Brian, who will also be receiving no cash bonus for last year. BofA is apparently making an “example” of Moyns as party of the bank’s attempt to get the message out that “If the company doesn’t do well, our CEO isn’t going to do as well.” [Bloomberg]
This is what happens when six-figure sums are allocated to 50-person groups. Read more »
The mood: less than enthused. Read more »
Some expectations were fulfilled: Read more »
Bonus conversations are said to be going down at Barclays Capital this afternoon, after the close. So, no details yet, but in the meantime, a few things to consider: Read more »
Earlier today, as in a few minutes ago, we learned that UBS announced it would claw back 2010 bonuses for senior-ranking employees in the investment bank. This may have put a damper on some people’s commute home but in happier news? Those individuals will be getting paid for last year’s work (albeit at a slightly reduced rate) and the only strings attached are that they can never leave UBS. Read more »
Something you might have picked up on recently is that while UBS may possess many strengths, investment banking is not one of them. The unit’s “continued losses” were to blame for net profit falling 76% in the fourth quarter, there was the matter of their little rogue trader, and not even the higher-ups in Zurich believe in the group anymore, announcing that they’d be “scaling back on investment-banking” considerably. So it probably shouldn’t come as much of a shock that, as predicted, bonuses will be down at least 60 percent from last year, though presumably there will still be some anger and acting out to deal with from those whose compensation will take a hit. But should anyone even so much as entertain the thought of coming at i-bank chief Carsten Kengeter with their own personal shit and claims/threats they have a right mind to take that offer from RBS, know this: Read more »
Today is bonus communication day at DB and while there are no specifics to be had just yet, apparently those hoping their decision to do the bare minimum last year would be handsomely rewarded were in for a disappointment. Read more »
…compensation costs remained stubbornly high, due in part to management’s decision to pay employees most of their bonuses immediately, rather than deferring big portions of pay to future years as some rivals have done. “We are very comfortable with our approach on deferrals at the firm and we didn’t need to increase it,” Chief Executive Kenneth Jacobs said in an interview. “There’s just no free lunch there.” [Reuters]
“Bonuses Met Wall Street Workers’ Expectations Says Survey” That Was Taken Before Majority Of Wall Street Workers Found Out What They Were Earning
By Bess LevinForty-five percent of respondents said “bonuses matched their expectations,” 11 percent received “a higher payout than they had anticipated,” and 34 percent were “disappointed by their bonus.” The results included financial services employees whose compensation was communicated by January 16, which means it excludes those who work at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank (Update: and UBS). [Bloomberg]
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