Someone explain to me why Lehman employees are going to be paid $3.5bn in bonuses?

[Grammaticus]

As I understand it, Barclays and Nomura have bought out the trading operations and set aside $3.5bn betwen them to pay staff bonuses, based on 2007 bonus figures. The 2007 bonuses were the latest in a long line of obscene figures paid by bankers to themselves, out of line with what any other profession or career would or could pay.

The bank has gone bust and they're going to do it again.

The usual self-justification is, IIRC, "to retain the best talent". Well they aren't bloody well going anywhere else at the moment are they?

It seems beyond belief. Is it any wonder that the American politicians have failed to get across to the American public that the $700bn bail out plan was anything other than bailing out the fat cats on Wall Street at their expense, when this is the sort of thing that happens? Bearing in mind that millions of US citizens can't even get health care?

Tell me I'm missing something...

well, they're definitely talented - they made tons of money disappear.

i wish i could explain what happened, but i'm still trying to figure out how it is now all of the sudden the American taxpayers' fault if the whole thing collapses like a house of cards in a hurricane and not the fault of the people who have been fucking up at their so over-paid jobs and mismanaging everything for years and years.

disgraceful

Lehman US employees.

I believe those in the UK have been shat on from a great height.

I would imagine the bonuses are written into their contracts

(If my dh left his company this year he would still receive a bonus next year as his bonus is performance related to the previous year)

How they managed to get performance related bonuses based on current figures is a mystery to me though.

oh, even more US Lehman employees have been laid off, SG, with utter FA because laws there can see you laid off with not a bean.

you get paid for that day and that's it.

your iron mountain box is being packed for you whilst you're in the conferece room getting your pink slip/P45.

thing is, it's not just banking.

that's far from the only industry blown to dust there now.

it's just that banks are the only ones being offered a bailout. at taxpayer expense. and taxpayer being made to feel guilty or take the blame for not supporting it.

yeah. that's going over really well there right about now.

The head guy at B&B has been there 30 working days and will be getting something like £750 000.00 now it has gone belly up because that was in his contract!

Shite isn't it!!!

It is US, yes, but I think also Europe and Asia as that is where Nomura have done their part of the buyout. I don't know whether it is UK or not.

Does the insolvency not make any difference to staff contracts then?

Well, yes, and many so-called US banks are part or greater than 50% controlled/owned by foreign banks.

Surely the American politicians should have done a better job of (a) putting in financial restrictions to the "bail out bill" (EESA) and (b) telling the public what these were, rather than letting Joe Public feel as though he was personally handing over cash to the obscenely wealthy.

What, you mean like the British politicians, Gram, who bascially dictate to the taxpayer that they will be bailing out these fat cats because it's for the greater good?

That's why the measure didn't pass, FWIW, because you can't get away with the likes of Brown telling us what's going to happen and you and me foot the bill whilst the lucky few swan off into the sunset in their golden balloons.

It shouldn't come to anyone as a surprise it didn't pass.

Because it was a handout and not a loan the banks have to pay back to the people with interest.

Plus, a large number of Congressional seats are up for re-election in about 4 weeks time.

Quite, grammaticus. Doesn't seem so long ago I was told, on MN, I should be grateful that greedy spivs were paying themselves multi-million pound bonuses out of OUR savings, pensions and investments because they were 'generating wealth'. My arse! They didn't generate any for me - my pension and endowment are still fucked - yet they managed to cream off millions of pounds for themselves and insisting on fat pay offs at the expense of ordinary people.

I shall save my sympathy for those ordinary people who lose their jobs - in any industry - who haven't been helping themselves to my money.

And the fat bankers weren't showing much sympathy when they were throwing people out of work by fucking companies for their own short-term gains, were they?

'Quite, grammaticus. Doesn't seem so long ago I was told, on MN, I should be grateful that greedy spivs were paying themselves multi-million pound bonuses out of OUR savings, pensions and investments because they were 'generating wealth'.'

Oh, yes, I remember those threads!

And the ones about the non-doms who didn't pay tax doing us all such a favour.

I think it is all of them up for re-election, and yes I suspect that has a massive amount to do with it. But the financial press here seem to suggest that a bail out is A Good Thing.

My Arse indeed - couldn't agree more!!

'But the financial press here seem to suggest that a bail out is A Good Thing. '

The same press who told us these huge bonuses and ludicrous salaries were such a good thing for the economy.

Indeed, those non-doms that we should all have been on our knees to with gratitude while they fucked us royally up the aforementioned arse.
'Wealth-generation' 'London the greatest banking centre on earth'

Shall we resurrect that one and have a look at in again in the light of current circumstances? Might be interesting, eh? I seem to recall a lot of nasty arrogant bullying, and claims that anyone who had doubts about the whole pack of cards being called 'stupid'.

Yes please lets have a link if anyone can find it!

I have to thank mumsnet for a thread last night that completely educated me on the situation in the US right now and why the bail out was voted out.

Much more informative than the great long pieces I tried to digest in the Telegraph today.

"I seem to recall a lot of nasty arrogant bullying, and claims that anyone who had doubts about the whole pack of cards being called 'stupid'."

People get aggressive when you point out that they spend their lives on their knees sucking Satan's scaly cock at the very point of a huge pyramid marketing scheme. Meh... that's human nature. All a bit academic now.

radio silence!

'People get aggressive when you point out that they spend their lives on their knees sucking Satan's scaly cock at the very point of a huge pyramid marketing scheme.'

quote of the week

i second that, DaddyJ!