Tom Lindmark

France's Bank Bonus Rules: What Were They Thinking?

Thanks for the comment. I reread some of the material and I have to agree with you. A trader would apparently not be held liable for others failures. I interpreted a couple of provisions incorrectly. I apologize for the error.


On Aug 27 01:43 PM Paul Hodgson wrote:

> From what I can tell, M. Sarkozy didn't say that bonuses would be
> forfeited if a trader's department lost money, though you would certainly
> get that impression from the English translation of his comments.
> But when he was speaking in French, he only ever referred to the
> singular. In other words, if in the two years following the award
> the trader loses money, then the bonus will be clawed back or forfeited.
> Here is what M. Sarkozy said in French: “attendre trois ans pour
> toucher l'intégralité du bonus et si dans les deux années qui suivent
> son activité perd de l'argent, il ne touchera pas son bonus. Pas
> de bonus sans malus, ce n'est pas à tous les coups on gagne. “ Which
> roughly translates as: “wait three years to get the whole of the
> bonus and if in the two years following his activity loses money,
> he won’t get his bonus. No bonus with malus, it’s not heads I win,
> tails I win.” Not their activity, but his activity. With this in
> mind it seems more reasonable, at least to me, though I can't be
> said to be a fan of government interference in this process. But
> no one else seems keen on making the jump except the Swiss banks.
>
> Paul Hodgson