Have banks learned their lesson?

Have banks learned their lesson?

Apparently not. Banks in the UK and the US are preparing to give bonuses to their executives, in spite of the impact of the financial crisis on world economies.

September 15, 2009 12:38 by Dana El Baltaji

“I’m appalled that some institutions are already wanting to return to the old ways; that some of our financial institutions are taking action which, in my view, is not only wrong but counterproductive in continuing, indeed extending the bonus culture of the past,” Brown said.

“Some of our financial institutions are taking action which, in my view, is not only wrong but counterproductive in continuing, indeed extending the bonus culture of the past.”

He also said that world leaders meeting at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh next week will need to work together to “complete the unfinished business” of cleaning up banks.

Meanwhile, a global survey of 153 leading institutional investors conducted by FTI Consulting, a business advisory firm, shows that funds suspect the practices that led to the crisis have not disappeared.

Jack Dunn FTI’s president and CEO said: “Anecdotal evidence gathered during the survey suggests that across the globe investors were still concerned that the amount of leverage in the system that caused the original problem has not been reduced.”

“The prevailing view was that there has been so much economic stimulus that markets can not help but go up. The concern was what would happen when government money runs out,” he added.

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Tags: banks, bonus, Financial Crisis, Institute for Public Policy Research, IPPR, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, US President Barack Obama