Bankers have learned nothing, what do you think?

[barney15c]

Bob Diamond (Barclays Head Honcho) famously said, the time for apologising about the banking crisis is over. Excuse me i don't remember any banker apologising for anything. This man has taken a 10m pound bonus despite miselling Payment Protection, probably involved in giving bad advice to pensioners as HSBC and Lloyds has and had to cut back bonuses because of it. Now we find out Barclays was involved in a 500m pound tax avoidance loophole which has just been closed by HMRC. They havent learned a thing and are still plunging the depths of morality. Any opinions from other AB members???

[DaisyNonna]

A banker: a result that has been forecast identically in a series of entries.

[237SJ]

Yes. Take a look at the way Tesco, Sainsbury and other companies operate. I think you will find their CEOs are on performance related salaries as well. Banks are no different to other companies in that respect. <<probably involved in giving bad advice to pensioners>> Can you confirm that and give relevant details?

[barney15c]

http://www.thisismone...tml?ito=feeds-newsxml

This was HSBC but they were not the only ones, other banks were involved, i suspect Barclays were too.

[Hopkirk]

You don't remember any banker apologising for anything?

Let me refresh your memory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXgHFArVO9c

[barney15c]

Thanks for that Hopkirk I wasnt aware of this footage..although they were probably more sorry they got caught. Fair play though for the video.

[Huderon]

Let's see ...

Barclays ... not bailed out by the state. HSBC ... not bailed out by the state.

And guess what ? It is the government of the day (and HMRC) who set the rules and regulations for tax, and if they set them in a way which leaves loopholes, there is nothing immoral or illegal about a company (or individual) taking advantage of the holes in the legislation in order to minimise their tax bill.

As for the PPI issue, Barclays were not the only bank to sell that kind of cover. LLoyds (which was bailed out) also did so, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that all of the high street banks did the same. However they will all have to make restitution for that and either already have or will be making provision for it.

[barney15c]

Well HMRC closed the loophole, barclays will have to pay...they knew it was wrong otherwise they would be fighting it tooth and nail. So i guess its alright to fleece customers and the taxpayer even if you didnt take a bailout but did benefit from the favourable conditions it brought. and pay your head man 10m bonus, you seem to think so. What these banks did with PPI was criminal, miselling is semantics , it was fraud on a huge scale, they had to pay out but criminal charges should have been brought.

[Gromit]

Neither Barclays or HSBC took any of my money. They didn't need a bailout or got the money elsewhere. So they are entitled to pay their employees whatever they want.

[barney15c]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17181213

This shows the moral compass we are dealing with here with Barclays, morally its wrong and now thankfully its legally wrong too. They continued to devise tax avoidence schemes when they signed up not to.

[emmie]

that's good, however doesn't that mean they will pass those costs on to their customers, higher bank charges etc.

[HowardKennitby]

The problem with tax avoidance by public companies is the directors have a legal duty to act in the best interests of the company shareholders. Maximising profit is usually the measure adopted.

[McMouse]

The Treasury Minister was talking bilge this morning about Barclays and their tax affairs when he said "they had been found out". Cobblers, Barclays informed HMRC that they were proposing to follow other banks in respect of this tax avoidance, and asked whether it was OK. HMRC said "This is a loophole which we are going to close and you'll have to pay the tax. So what's wrong? Barclays asked the question and got a No.

[rov1100]

They are all in it together. With friends like Cameron et al they know their bonuses can't be touched as the coalition tend to penalise the organisation they work for not the individual. ie Levy on all the banks.

[Canary42]

Why should they get these enormous bonuses - all they achieve is profit in boom times and losses in bust times - just like any Tom Dick or Harry can. It's a big con by Boards determining their own salaries. When the workers try to achieve the same power we get all the usual anti-Trade Union bilge from the right-wing press about Unions bringing the country to its knees etc. Even the so-called Winter of Discontent in the Seventies did far less damage to the country than the bl00dy bankers.