Are we (the UK) doing this..?

[Thedelldays]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8458689.stm

[Saintandy666]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8458689.stm

 

Well, we will probably follow now... but also as we own or partially own many of the major banks now, we are going to make a fortune in the long run.

[CB Saint]

I think we are taxing the banks on certain types of bonus, however the banks have a lot of people who are a lot smarter than HMRC so I am sure they will find a way around it.

 

On the radio they were saying that a lot of the banks have already repaid the loan with interest. The money than the US government haven't recovered was given to companies such as GM and AIG. As the US govt cannot ever see any chance of recovering it from the motor and insurance industry they decided that the banks can help out. Plus Obama can score a few approval points as it will be popular with the US public.

 

I won't shed a tear though.

[Smirking_Saint]

We should do. Still cannot believe the lack of responsibility taken by those fat cats in top hats and the fact that they shrug off any blame on their part

[aintforever]

We need to do something, the banking system is completely screwed up.

 

They cause the recession, we bail them out with billions, the economy suffers with millions unemployed or taking pay cuts yet a year later they are making massive profits and gets huge bonuses again.

 

IMO the whole banking sector needs to be nationalized, otherwise we will just be heading straight down the same road again.

[Saintandy666]

We should do. Still cannot believe the lack of responsibility taken by those fat cats in top hats and the fact that they shrug off any blame on their part

 

With the regulation in place there was nothing to safe guard this and it is a private company and we give them our money to look after and they can basically do anything they want with it :/ It was irresponsible, yes... but no way illegal and we, the public were key in it as well never questioning the 200% mortgages etc The key is more regulation so it never happens again(well at least not in the same way.)

[Elmore]

All Brown has done is place a pretty paltry (in comparison to Obama) 50p tax on bank bonuses of more than 25k. He is a scaredy-cat.

[Johnny Bognor]

No, but we damn well should be.

 

I am all for capitalism and wealth creation, but what the financial services industry did was bordering on criminal.

But they still don't get it, do they?

 

It's one more thing dragging on the sector, but it's spread over 10 years, so it's not so consequential. It's petty theft from bank balance sheets

 

 

People like Robert Albertson defrauded the rest of the economy with their deliberate pre-packaging of worthless ****.

 

...and our lot were just as guilty. British Banks should pay it back with interest.

Edited 14 January, 2010 by Johnny Bognor

[GenevaSaint]

All Brown has done is place a pretty paltry (in comparison to Obama) 50p tax on bank bonuses of more than 25k. He is a scaredy-cat.

 

He was the first person globally to put such a tax on bankers bonuses, he made the first move. It would have been suicide for the UK financial services industry to put this in place without other countries doing the same. Frankfurt would be falling over backwards to get a slice of the London markets.

 

I work for one of the big US banks, there are articles citing my bank saying they might leave London if the government taxed them unfairly. Now, while that's throwing their toys out of the pram it may well have happened.

 

With Obama coming out with this, I'm sure other countries will now follow suit and we may also get a European wide direction/agreement.

[GenevaSaint]

I am all for capitalism and wealth creation, but what the financial services industry did was bordering on criminal.

But they still don't get it, do they?

 

In fairness to some of the banks, why should they all pay for others financial mismanagement and poor risk management? As an example, JPMorgan never made a quarterly loss during this crisis, whereas Citigroup, Bank of America made massive losses due to poor risk management along with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mac etc. I'm not against this, the but banks take the brunt of anger when AIG got 80bn dollars and who knows when the US will get that back if ever.

 

My own personal belief is that we as a nation need to get the **** out of this love affair with mortgages and housing. It's a vicious cycle of rising prices, more complex financial instruments to deliver the mortgages leading to rising prices and more risk taking by the financial services industry etc etc.

 

The French property markets are far more stable because generally they buy a house and live there for 20+ years. When I looked at buying a house there, I was looking at needing about 60k for the solicitors fees and deposit alone, hence not may moves in a life time. Also the banks I spoke to would only loan me a multiplier on around 30% of my take home pay.

[Johnny Bognor]

In fairness to some of the banks, why should they all pay for others financial mismanagement and poor risk management? As an example, JPMorgan never made a quarterly loss during this crisis, whereas Citigroup, Bank of America made massive losses due to poor risk management along with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mac etc. I'm not against this, the but banks take the brunt of anger when AIG got 80bn dollars and who knows when the US will get that back if ever.

 

In fairness to most businesses and the tax payer, why should they pay for the financial mismanagement and poor risk management and the near-on criminal activities / unethical practices of the financial services sector?

 

At least if it is restricted to banks, the pain is felt a bit closer to home.

 

I have no problem with bonuses (no matter how large) in banks that didn't need government help. However, I would like to see those banks who took the government hand outs pay it all back with interest.

[Elmore]

He was the first person globally to put such a tax on bankers bonuses, he made the first move. It would have been suicide for the UK financial services industry to put this in place without other countries doing the same. Frankfurt would be falling over backwards to get a slice of the London markets.

 

I work for one of the big US banks, there are articles citing my bank saying they might leave London if the government taxed them unfairly. Now, while that's throwing their toys out of the pram it may well have happened.

 

With Obama coming out with this, I'm sure other countries will now follow suit and we may also get a European wide direction/agreement.

 

I hope so.

 

Apparently the total cost of the bail-out so far is £850 billion. This wipes out the tax contributions the banks made to the treasury during the boom years and then some. It has been argued that the UK literally can't afford the risk of having this happen again so if a lot of bankers do move abroad it will actually be good for the country (and less good for the countries they go to).

[Special K]

I work for one of the big US banks, there are articles citing my bank saying they might leave London if the government taxed them unfairly. Now, while that's throwing their toys out of the pram it may well have happened.

 

With Obama coming out with this, I'm sure other countries will now follow suit and we may also get a European wide direction/agreement.

 

Which means the bankers wont leave London to go elsewhere, which is the argument often used to justify not hitting the banks and bankers, as they are likely to be taxed anyway. Then they can be taxed more.

[hypochondriac]

I see the idiots who borrowed more than they could afford don't get blamed then.

[Johnny Bognor]

I see the idiots who borrowed more than they could afford don't get blamed then.

 

Why bring Gordon Brown into this?

[GenevaSaint]

Which means the bankers wont leave London to go elsewhere, which is the argument often used to justify not hitting the banks and bankers, as they are likely to be taxed anyway. Then they can be taxed more.

 

Absolutely, which is a good thing, sorry if that didn't come across. Was trying to point out to previous poster we need to be on a level playing field globally instead of moaning at brown for only implementing the bonus tax. Now this has come out I'm sure the government will do something more radical.

 

Like it or not, the financial services sector bring huges amounts of money into UK PLC. If the sector was decimated by companies and people leaving it would be a disaster. Now that's unlikely.

[GenevaSaint]

I see the idiots who borrowed more than they could afford don't get blamed then.[/quote

 

I agree Hypo, from a UK perspective we're obsessed with houses and ownership, we need to look at houses primarily as a place to live not an investment. On the housing ladder etc

 

Regulation needs to be stepped up again, the free market of the 80's and deregulation went to far.

 

The irony is, we pay a mortgage for 25 years to get something at the end of that period instead of paying for rental. Then the government make you sell your house to pay for your nursing care in your old age. Sometimes I wonder what's the fecking point!

[GenevaSaint]

I hope so.

 

Apparently the total cost of the bail-out so far is £850 billion. This wipes out the tax contributions the banks made to the treasury during the boom years and then some. It has been argued that the UK literally can't afford the risk of having this happen again so if a lot of bankers do move abroad it will actually be good for the country (and less good for the countries they go to).

 

Elmore, it's not that simple, we're a service sector economy now. I dread to think how many jobs would be lost if London was no longer a huge financial centre, that would have a massive financial impact on the UK as a whole. Lost personal taxes, lost corporation tax, bankers tax :-), more unemployment/benefits payouts, lack of NI contributions.

 

It's not just the bankers, think of all of the support services around the City of London. Shops, couriers, cleaners, security guards, taxis etc etc.

 

That said, now Obama has given some direction the rest of the world will follow.....