Guardian: “The UK financial sector was dealt a withering blow on Wednesday night when the European Union agreed on moves to slash the bonuses that may be paid to bankers, defeating strong Treasury opposition to the new rules.” “A meeting of officials from the 27 countries of the EU with MEPs and the European commission agreed to cap bankers’ bonuses broadly at a year’s salary, with the proviso that the bonus could be doubled subject to majority shareholder approval. …The decision to act on bonuses came as part of a broader initiative on bank regulation known as the Capital Requirements Directive aimed at forcing Europe’s financial sector to insure itself against the kind of weaknesses of the past five years that triggered an international emergency and frequently left taxpayers footing the bills for bank failures. / The agreement has still to be approved by EU governments before coming into force next year. While details may still be tweaked, it is expected that the main points will become EU law. / Britain, strongly opposed to the new legislation, will not be able to veto it as it will be carried by a qualified majority vote of the EU member states.”
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