City bonus rules falling on deaf ears
ALMOST a fifth of UK financial professionals expect to see their pay go up by 70 per cent or more this year, despite extensive efforts on the part of authorities to curb the City bonus culture, according to a new survey.
Just over half of those polled by efinancialcareers.com said they expected a higher bonus this year than in 2008, with 18 per cent saying they expect to see a significant jump of 71 per cent or higher.
However, the majority said the main reason for the hike was the abnormally low bonus pool in 2008, with only 27 per cent of respondents saying the increased payout was because of better company performance.
The survey also suggested that the Financial Services Authority’s clampdown on bonuses is not being heeded across the sector despite its hard-line approach.
In total 59 per cent of those questioned said they did not expect any element of it to be deferred, while 57 per cent said they do not expect to see any changes to their firm’s bonus structure in line with the regulator’s guidelines.