EU countries follow US and claw back bonuses from banks

European governments are to impose legal curbs on executive bonuses at bailed-out companies, the Guardian reports.

It says:

  • Four senior executives at the French bank Société Générale have agreed to hand back their share options awarded five days ago
  • France and the Netherlands followed moves in Germany by drafting legislation on excessive boardroom pay, including awards of stock options and free shares.
  • The Dutch finance minister, Wouter Bos, forced the country's biggest bank, ING, to issue a "moral appeal to management to hand in bonuses for 2008" and outlining stricter controls on bonuses in the face of "persistent social discontent".

Two years ago the Netherlands became the only EU country to respond to guidelines from the European commission, with a €500,000 (then £350,000) ceiling on "golden parachutes" for departing executives.

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