EU pushes for G20 bank bonus 'sanctions'
European Union leaders will press their G20 partners to back "sanctions" for banks that hand out excessive bonuses, according to a draft summit communique seen by AFP on Wednesday.
"The G20 should commit to agreeing to binding rules for financial institutions on variable remunerations backed up by the threat of sanctions at the national level," the draft said ahead of a special summit in Brussels.
The text will be put to the heads of the 27 EU member states meeting on Thursday evening to agree a common position to take to the G20 summit in Pittsburgh of the world's major economies next week.
Seeking new rules that "fulfil the commitment subscribed to in London" in April at the last G20 summit, the EU contends that bonuses handed out in the financial sector should be tied to "long-term performance."
The draft calls for an end to guaranteed bonuses, with financial police given powers to retroactively slash payments where investments fail to deliver and tools to force boardrooms to control levels of high-risk speculation.
The EU leaders will also seek to block the exercising of stock options over set timeframes and end the insulation of top directors from fall-out when banks fail, following a number of high-profile payouts to failed bank chiefs.
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