US Banks to their British Cousins: We Won't Take a Pay Cut Because That Would Be "Socialist". Huh? Where was the "Socialist" Thesis When Banks took a Govt. Bailout?

Margareta Pagano, The Independent

America's top bankers quashed attempts by their British counterparts to persuade the industry to bring down salaries in response to public outrage after the world's governments spent billions rescuing the system.

Chief executives from the world's banks discussed the plans at a secret dinner held at Claridge's, the London hotel, last October, at which several leading British bankers are said to have suggested that the sector should take greater responsibility for its part in the crash, and do more to reduce the vast bonuses paid to staff.

But the recommendations were met by stiff opposition from the US banks JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, according to one source. "Some of the US bankers were furious about attempts to reduce pay throughout the industry, arguing that any such move smacked of socialism and would be fiercely resisted," the source said on Friday. "It's not the way the Americans like to go about their business."

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