Ex bank lobby chief: Link pay to performance
BANKERS’ high pay was not always earned, former industry spokesperson Angela Knight claimed yesterday in her first big interview since leaving the British Bankers’ Association (BBA).
She defended the industry through the financial crisis, but has now believe “tough questions need to be asked” about remuneration packages.
“I have always favoured big pay for big performances, but in some cases it was not earned,” she told the Mail on Sunday. “The balance has got to be got right. If you get paid, you need to earn it, but there is more work in that area that needs to be done.”
Knight headed the BBA for five years, stepping down this year.
“I arrived in my job on 1 April 2007 at the start of an extraordinary time of crisis after crisis. It was possibly the most difficult time for the industry for 150 years,” she said.
But Knight praised the sector and her role defending it, saying that despite the financial crisis bankers are not the least popular group in Britain.