Gordon Brown was under rising pressure to clamp down on the City's bonus culture last night after the US Congress agreed to drastic curbs capping senior bankers' bonuses at a third of their salary. The measures, which are expected to be signed into law by President Barack Obama this week, would apply to dozens of staff at American banks bailed out by the taxpayer and could cost Wall Stre...

"So," said Alice to the Mad Banker, "let me get this right. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which lost £28bn and is kept from bankruptcy by taxpayers' money, will pay staff £1bn in bonuses; people at the organisation that looks after government cash in bailed-out banks will get bonuses; so will staff at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the very people charged with...

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has asserted today that banks are better run in the private sector. The comments box is wide open for anyone who would like to offer a single coherent argument or shred of evidence in support of this view.

After the recent grilling given by MPs to bank chiefs, two Labour MPs have tabled a motion calling for all chief executive of banks to be required to have formal banking qualifications. But why should bank chiefs have to have a “recognised banking qualification”? What’s the point? These are not people who make decisions on their

Alistair Darling was in Rome on Saturday while the financial world continued to burn. The Chancellor signalled he would prefer Lloyds Banking Group to remain in private hands.

This baby business really isn't leaving much time for blogging (or anything else). But I did spot this piece from Pesto which is worth a read - Are there greater hypocrites in the world than British institutional investors? These days, they bellyache about the excessive risks that were being run by big companies in the boom years. They've put irresistible pressure on banks to raise regul...

Alistair Darling today pointedly declined to rule out nationalisation of the battered Lloyds Banking Group and refused to be drawn on whether the government was poised to inject more cash. The chancellor stressed that a state takeover remained very much a last resort. "I've made it clear that we believe that banks are best run on a commercial basis in the private sector, properly supervised a...

Here is a plan for stimulating the economy that does not involve the Banks, declare March Tax Free month. Nobody has PAYE or NI deducted from their salary in March, the Government are just wasting it anyway. Plus points- People will see what they are really earning as opposed to what is left after they have been robbed blind. Those with debts and overdrafts can reduce them at a stroke (others admi...

Ken Clarke was on Today this morning talking about the banks crisis. The Big Beast has arrived. Not.Repeatedly asked by the financially razor-sharp Evan Davis as to what he (Clarke) would do which is different to what Labour are doing, Ken was utterly, utterly p-a-t-h-e-t-i-c. He ummed and ahhed and then went back to criticising Labour and then Davis asked again what he would do and he said he

That this House believes that all banks which have received public funds and in which the British taxpayer now owns more than 50 per cent. of their value should be governed by the same Freedom of Information rules as Parliament; That would be not covered by the Act then, as MP’s expenses are not?