Huge blow to UK Bankers

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&s…

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling imposed a 50 percent levy on banker bonuses and said he will increase income taxes after elections next year as the worst recession on record drives up U.K. government borrowing.

10 Comments
 

Pay will iterate to a fair after-tax amount over time or good bankers will leave and work elsewhere.

############ ############ ############ The time is now, seize the day ...
 

The way around this is simple for the firms. You use one of your non-UK-domiciled legal entities to pay the bonuses to staff in the UK. You simply transfer the bonus pool to a different office who pays the actual bonus to employees. I don't see how it's illegal, and it avoids the special tax. You still have to pay taxes on funds bround into the UK, but if you have an offshore account (and you're not American), you can avoid the taxes altogether.

Thoughts?

 
Best Response

I am pretty sure banks will find a way around that...maybe people will get a raise just before the bonus and next year they will have a drop in salary :-) To follow up with the previous comment it was clearly mention by top UK gov people that they will monitor any tax avoidance scheme so I am curious to see what type of actions will be taken there...but at the end of the day I agree that certainly something can be done overseas, not sure how you can get back the money to the UK...anyway that will be interesting to follow. I am in London, it's a huge story here as you can imagine, Barclays CEO even told that bankers will fly away from London, etc...

 

Ipsum deserunt quaerat sit officiis debitis ipsum. Et ut nulla corporis aut. Et minima autem qui neque unde vero. Et qui ut vel et. Et accusamus molestiae accusantium qui necessitatibus distinctio ea.

Aut facilis perspiciatis saepe sunt sed consequatur reiciendis. Et voluptatibus dignissimos nemo ipsum autem est voluptas eum. Ex ut a amet qui. Aut dicta totam et officia veniam velit voluptatum modi. Animi aspernatur alias quam aut delectus qui.

Ut quibusdam ea aut dolores ea ut consequuntur. Culpa saepe illum est assumenda. Deleniti aliquid minima deleniti velit qui vel.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”