There has been NO suggestion anywhere that the people in the capital markets division (for the avoidance of doubt onq, that would be the investment division, not the lending division) are in any way incompetent. In fact, throughout this whole debacle it has been repeatedly pointed out that the capital markets division (for the avoidance of doubt onq, that would be the investment division, not the lending division) was pretty much the only bright spot in AIB’s performance – without them, AIB would be even further in the manure business.
Your post shows a huge amount of begrudgery that someone could possibly earn this kind of money. People do earn this kind of money all over the world and as long as they deliver for their employers, they will continue to earn this kind of money. I would prefer to pay a trader 250K and have him make 10M for the company – than a trader at 75K who loses the company 2M. Do you understand that you get what you pay for and you pay for what you get? That’s the whole point of low basic, high bonus structures – reward the people who deliver – do you have an issue with that concept?
These are normal pay rates across Europe and the world and the one sure thing to come out of this is that AIB won’t be able to retain or recruit any decent staff for their capital markets division (for the avoidance of doubt onq, that would be the investment division, not the lending division). Tough choice as a trader eh? Hmm, earn 75K plus 160K+ bonus in a solvent bank/investment company in Ireland, the UK, Europe, the US, anywhere, ... or earn 75K plus no bonus in AIB where I will be pilloried from a distance by people who think a trained monkey could do my job... decisions, decisions...
And finally, + 1 to Sunny’s post – what about Fingleton’s bonus and 27m pension pot? Or at least as a start, the 1m he said he would pay back.
And, again, what about Dermot Ahern’s retirement bonus and pension pot?
I'm becoming good at begrudgery Orca.
For example, I don't buy your division of labour argument.
The fact that you say the Capital Acquisitions portfolio hasn't crashed yet means nothing to a layperson, so you might want to beef up your explanation with reference to what Mr, Foy and his fellow travellers actually do to earn their money.
If they're not selling something to earn that commission, it seems they are buying something. Sicne when do buyers get paid on commission? How is the value of what they have done for the company calculated? Comparison costings? I honestly don't know, I'm asking.
The culture in AIB was informed by the history of, and culture in, large Irish companies.
Get big, remove small local competition, engage in cartel like behaviour, create monopoly conditions, smooth the wa.
You name it, the tracks of the perfidy these boys engage in are everywhere, from their their bail outs to their lack of real competition driving down prices.
Let's not pretend that people trading on insider information are in any way astute, or that gambling is something that takes talent.
The former takes contacts, the latter requires the ability to place a bet, preferably using other peoples money - lots of it.
I mean, exactly WHAT brilliant investments were made in 2008 that justified a €160,000 bonus in that year?
Do I begrudge traders the right to gamble away the wealth of a country - yes I do and so should every right thinking person.
ONQ.