March 29th in Accountancy News, Banking, Business by Editor .
Robbing Pensions to Pay for a Bonus Tax
Barclays have been accused of raiding pension benefits to pay the tax on investment bankers’ bonuses…
Which, if true, will make other investment banks really look like they really are doing God’s work by comparison.
Daily Telegraph: Details buried in the annual accounts show that the bank made a £371m profit last year from closing its UK final salary scheme to existing members. After a £150m “voluntary” top-up to help clear the deficit, the net profit from the move was £221m. The figure is almost exactly equivalent to the £225m bonus tax paid to cover the £2.2bn of awards to its 23,200 Barclays Capital staff.
Hmmm, fishy.
Expect pitchforks.
