In a typical Sarkozian move, the French president has taken the EU recommendations for curbing financial turmoil in the future one step further with some very practical measures:
"Mr Sarkozy unveiled a series of measures aimed at tightening French rules on banking pay and improving the disclosure of bonus payments.
These include deferring traders’ bonuses over three years, paying one-third of awards in shares, and imposing strict long-term performance criteria in order to receive full payment. The government has also appointed bonus watchdogs at banks that have received state aid.
Top French banks including BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole have signed up to the new rules.
The measures take recommendations on traders’ pay made at the G20 summit last spring a step further. Under those guidelines, guaranteed bonuses are to be banned, payment deferred over several years and the cost of risk must be included in remuneration policy."
I would like the Liberal Party to include these proposals in their policies.
Shareholders and ordinary Canadians need to be protected against any future meltdown caused by bonus systems in financial institutions encouraging managers of banks and their boards of directors to take massive risks, with consequences for ordinary Canadians' RRSPs and personal wealth.
Also, the Liberal Party should lead the way with proposals for substantially beefed up regulatory oversight, and fast and effective prosecution of criminal fraud and other financial illegal activities. Canada has the reputation of being a backwaters country when it comes to securities regulation and enforcement, and this should stop.
