French bank BNP Paribas said on Wednesday it expected to pay more than 1 billion euros (US$1.44 billion) in bonuses to traders, executives and some 17,000 staff in its investment banking divisions this year.
A spokesman said that an average of 59,000 euros per person was being anticipated, but he said that the bank would “scrupulously respect” guidelines agreed by G20 major economies in April.
The scale of the bonuses sparked anger in France when revealed by the left-wing Liberation daily newspaper, with Socialist opposition leader Martine Aubry issuing a statement that termed the amount “a veritable scandal.”
Industry Minister Christian Estrosi told French radio that France’s central bank will “supervise” the payments in the interests of “transparency and guarantees” drawn up by political leaders in London.
But the bank said it had to offer renewed bonuses and was “worried that many of our rivals, notably in the United States, are no longer applying the rules” agreed upon, the spokesman said.
The spokesman said G20 leaders did not suppress bonus payments, but agreed to clamp down on guaranteed bonuses over multiple years and their calculation on net earnings after risk write-downs.
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved an aid and recovery package authorizing the government to allocate up to NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion) for regions hit by Typhoon Danas and subsequent torrential rains last month. Proposed by the Executive Yuan on Aug. 7, the bill was passed swiftly after ruling and opposition lawmakers reached a consensus in inter-party talks on relief funding and assistance for disaster-stricken areas. The package increases the government’s spending cap from the originally proposed NT$56 billion to NT$60 billion, earmarked for repairing and rebuilding infrastructure, electricity systems, telecommunications and cable TV networks, cultural heritage sites and other public facilities.
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