As a bleak and gloomy January draws to a close, the banksters are looking forward to awarding themselves some fat bonuses for all their "hard work" last year.
Sadly for the banksters not everyone is happy at the prospect of their self awarded largess. Step forward Unite which has demanded a meeting with UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI), which manages the government's (ie the taxpayer's) investments in RBS, Lloyds and UK Asset Resolution, over RBS's expected bonus payout of £250M.
As if things were not already bad enough for RBS, the Wall Street Journal reports US authorities are pushing for a settlement of LIBOR allegations that would result in the bank not only paying a fine of £500M, but also pleading guilty to criminal charges. Barclays and UBS got away with criminal charges, because they co-operated with the authorities.
RBS executives don't want to plead guilty because they fear that it will cause clients to cut off activity with the bank, and that it could increase exposure to ever more litigation.
Maybe then they should hold back on paying out a bonuses this year, lest the money be needed to pay for ongoing litigation?
