Save the supercar for next year
(Picture: REUTERS)As predictable as the changing of the weather, banker bonus season is always a source of outrage.
This year is shaping up to be particularly contentious: a banner 12 months for deal-making and public listings left money raining down on the City last year. Experts say it could be the most lucrative season for financiers since the financial crisis.
Most of us are seeing our bills soar. Not so the bankers: data shows the City is escaping the cost of living squeeze.
NatWest and Standard Chartered kick off reporting season this week with annual results that will shine a light on bonus pools. Pay is almost certain to jump. Expect calls for a windfall tax on greedy bankers to follow.
On a sliding scale of least to most deserving, bankers certainly have a better case than energy companies when it comes to avoiding a tax raid. While the likes of BP and Shell are largely just surfing sky-high energy prices, bankers are getting higher bonuses because of higher workloads. They are putting in the hours, thank you very much.
But a piece of advice to the City boys: don’t say that.
Doctors and nurses put in the hours and then some in 2020. What did they get? Not a chunky bonus but a bunch of clapping. They’ll be in no mood to hear how bankers deserve their fat cheques because of late nights poring over spreadsheets. Neither will the rest of the public, exhausted after 18 months of pandemic and now facing spiralling bills.
The sensible option for the City’s lucky few is to take the bonus and stick it in the bank. Blow it on a Ferrari at your peril.
