Brussels, 17/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - In London on Thursday 17 October, EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier justified the introduction of EU rules limiting the size of bank bonuses.
“The issue of bankers' pay is in fact the only one on which the UK has been outvoted since I have been in charge of financial regulation,” said the Commissioner at the AGM of the British Banking Association, adding: “Consensus is very important to me. Support from the EU's largest financial hub essential. So I regret what happened in this case and I regret the UK has chosen to take a case to the European Court of Justice. Especially when the rules are in line with international principles agreed in the context of the G20 and the FSB.”
The United Kingdom is challenging the legal basis of the restriction of bank bonuses to no more than double fixed pay, its erroneous application outside the EU and its potential consequences for data protection (see EUROPE 10930). Barnier said: “I remain confident that the measures are balanced and reasonable, in the interests of financial stability. And that our legal basis is the right one.”
The appeal to the Court of Justice will not prevent the new rules from coming into force on 1 January 2014. (MB/transl.fl)