Irish Govt raises four-year austerity target to €15bn

[drone]

I'm having AIG flashbacks.
Congress Moves to Slap Heavy Tax on Bonuses

90% Levy for Biggest Payouts at Bailed-Out Firms
Friday, March 20, 2009

Congress moved yesterday to levy punitive taxes on bonuses paid by financial firms receiving government aid, threatening to undermine federal efforts to rescue the financial system by driving away participants in the programs.

A quickly assembled House bill was approved 328 to 93. It struck hard at Wall Street's compensation system, which has come under fire because of the $165 million in bonuses distributed last week by American International Group to executives of the troubled unit that helped lead the insurance giant to the brink of collapse. Under the legislation, those who received bonuses of more than $125,000 would surrender 90 percent of their payments to a special income tax.

[gaelic cowboy]

I'm having AIG flashbacks.
Congress Moves to Slap Heavy Tax on Bonuses

There talking about bringing in some kind of deferred bonus system for companies outside bailout central.

The idea is to defer payment for 3 yr and if they have a big loss it will be clawed back.

[drone]

In an ideal world, corporate retention bonuses would have a sensible nullification clause. If you run the company into the ground, sorry, no bonus.

[Louis VI the Fat]

You will be happy to know the bankers will be bared from any bonus craic next time, unfortunately the court upheld there old contract so they had to get a bonus this time.

Yes, I understand that the bonus is over 2008.

But, old contracts are not at all upheld. The very point of the bailout is that banks do not have to suffer the financial consequences of their pre-bailout obligations. However, apparantly the bankers are shielded from negative consequences, but protected in positive consequences of pre-bailout arrangements. That is not on.

Dont even joke about it Louis thats the very last thing we need here.

Joke? What makes you think I'm joking when I suggest blowing up this bank?

In fact, as we speak, on the news there's this video of Irish Republican paramilitaries who tried to blow up the car of a banking executive. They all burned their lips on the exhaust pipe.

Now that, that was a joke. (Bet you have never heard it before )

[Strike For The South]

1. Those accents are ridiculous

2. "When we run out of pheasant, we shoot peasant" is something I can see BG saying :)

[gaelic cowboy]

1. Those accents are ridiculous

2. "When we run out of pheasant, we shoot peasant" is something I can see BG saying :)

The quality live a differant life

A postcard from: Sir Jack Leslie

About 10 years ago I decided I would go to my first disco. So I jumped on the village bus and went to The Oasis in Monaghan and never found so many friendly people in my life -- although they would steal my cap! About two years after, I went to Manumission in Ibiza and had a wonderful time.

Bear in mind now that when he went to Manumission in 2001 he was 85 yrs of age and he still goes to the local club in Monaghan



Sir Jack prob taken in the Oasis in Monaghan

[Louis VI the Fat]

AIB has decided not to pay the €40m in bonuses to some of its senior staff members after Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan threatened to cut State funding.

AIB says its board has decided not to pay the controversial €40m in bonuses to some of its senior staff members. The move follows a letter from Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan to the bank's board.

The Minister said the payment of financial support needed by the bank from the State would be conditional on the non-payment of bonuses 'no matter when they may have been earned'.
Mr Lenihan said: 'I appreciate that AIB was not in a position to put up a sworn defence in the High Court proceedings and that the Executive Chairman and the Board have acted with complete propriety in this matter.'
The bank said tonight its legal advice had been that it was obliged to pay the bonuses but that the Minister's intervention overtook that obligation.

It said: 'The bank very much appreciates the support it has received to date from the State and the Irish taxpayers and acknowledges that it will continue to rely on this support for some time to come.'
AIB Executive Chairman David Hodgkinson said the bank was 'relieved' to be in a position not to pay the bonuses.

Head of Corporate Services at AIB, Alan Kelly, said that the board of the bank had been embarrassed at the prospect of paying the bonuses.
The bank, which has received €3.5bn from the Government in assistance, was due to pay the bonuses for 2008 as a result of a High Court ruling earlier this year.
A staff member had taken the legal action to force the bank to pay him his bonus.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1213/harneym.html

Common sense at last.


Even if I did, somewhat, understood everybody's position - the individual banker wants his 2008 bonus from before the bailout, the judge must rule to honour existing contracts, the bank must abide by that, a government must not interfere with individual court decisions - still, the overwhelming emotion was: what were they all even thinking!?