Bonus freeze sparks readers' debate

Published on Thursday 15 January 2009 20:12

THE exclusive revelation in The Scotsman yesterday that HBOS was to freeze bonus payments to its corporate banking staff amid a troubled year for the Edinburgh-based financial institution sparked strong debate among readers of the scotsman.com website.

Many bank workers defended their financial reliance on the annual reward – that has been paid out to workers every year since the Halifax-Bank of Scotland merger in 2001.

One reader pointed out that not all workers entitled to a bonus were on "fat cat" salaries.

He said: "People seem to assume that all corporate staff are on big wages and only sell debt! Corporate staff include IT, support staff, processors, communications teams etc.

"I personally find it hard to attribute the blame for the financial troubles on these guys."

Others had no sympathy for the financial workers, saying that bonuses should not be paid out when the bank attempted to tap shareholders for emergency cash in a 4 billion rights issue.

Another reader wrote: "A bonus is a bonus regardless of your salary, and is certainly not an integral part of your salary. Welcome to the real world."