London bankers halt the great escape to Geneva | Business | The First Post.
The exodus of British bankers fleeing Alistair Darling's tax hike and bonus levy is on hold. According to Terry Smith, chief executive of Tullett Prebon, far fewer brokers than expected have sought posts in less tax-onerous jurisdictions like Geneva or Singapore.
Amazing! You mean they were bull-s**tting all along? How could that be? Aren't these people the omnipotent masters of the universe? And yet they couldn't even work out that staying put was really the best option?
I'm staggered.
Mind you - they could have found that out here all along.
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It appears Commerzbank are paying zero bonuses and don’t expect this to damage recruitment & retention. A tale of two banks:
http://flipchartfairytales.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/a-tale-of-two-banks/
Richard,
I believe the TR-UK claim was that none would be leaving.
Interesting, are these bankers the omnipotent masters of the universe capable of toppling governments and economies at the stroke of their keyboard -or- are they not, even incapable of proper tax planning?
Georges
So, their bluff is called, and guess what? Most of these “masters of the universe” aren’t going, exactly as you pedicted Richard. Not, of course, that this has stopped them complaining. From the article…….
“Whilst the abroad flight may be off, banking officials are warning that the increased UK tax burden is challenging notions of fairness (the top rate of tax for anyone earning over £150,000 will rise to 50 per cent in April). Angela Knight, CEO of the British Bankers’ Association, says for the past three decades there has been an “unwritten understanding” that whatever happened in the rest of the UK, the financial services industry would have a proportionate tax regime and be open to international business.
That may no longer the case, Knight says. “Any new government has got to reinforce the messages of sensible tax, sensible regulation and that we want international business operating out of here,” she told Financial News. “Some of the things have got to be thought through again, particularly, I would say, stability in the tax regime.”
Stuart Fraser, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation, echoed Knight’s message. “We need a more supportive tone coming out of government, because at the moment everybody feels like they are being taxed out of existence, nobody wants us, we’re all ‘socially useless’…” But staying all the same.
What disgusting arrogance. However, the response to the article, from a city insider no less, is even better:
“Taxed out of existence”? at 50% on ?É??Ç£1m bonuses? I don’t think so. “Nobody wants us”? Correct. “Socially useless”? Correct. One out of three right. About par for the course for “investment bankers”in my experience as an ex-director of a national pension fund.
Richard
I know the BBA looks at this site.
Might I therefore offer my own views on Angela Knight? She would in my view make an excellent pantomime dame – coming across the airwaves as she does with the requisite arrogance, aloofness, and condescension.
She may be great for the BBA in its relations with government, industry etc. I wouldn’t know. She is in my view, however, the very worst sort of CEO to be rolled out in front of the public. Whenever I hear her on the radio, it makes me want to spit.
The term “ivory tower” might have been coined for her – she seems to be quite unable to empathise with the concerns of ordinary people (or at least incapable of giving the impression that she does). I can imagine her in a different life pronouncing: to her entourage “let them eat cake” and the look of utter incomprehension on her face as she is led off to be guillotined.
Impressions count and I no longer pay any heed to what she says.
To say you don’t really care for bankers and were more or less telling those that want to leave the UK to leave…you don’t half go on about it!