Executive bonuses – specifically bankers' bonuses – have caused public uproar, as many banks have sought help from the government to keep afloat.
In the UK, the rest of Europe and the US, governments look to crackdown on bankers' bonuses, while banks have responded with a mixture of actions.
On Monday, the Financial Times said that RBS's chief executive of global banking and markets division John Hourican is to receive a "special bonus" of £4 million:
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This is, of course, despite RBS being 83% owned by the taxpayer.
There is no doubt that this will cause unrest in the UK and it looks like the culture of bonuses isn't set to change, despite the UK's prime minister David Cameron pledging to crack down on executive pay.
You just have to look at the lack of change in executive pay structures over recent years. Despite the credit crisis first exploding in 2007, bonus payments are still be made to this day.
Furthermore, MF Global has gone under – but its workers are still set to receive previously agreed bonus payments before it filed for Chapter 11.
An overwhelming number of analysts, experts and anyone linked to the industry has said that cuts to bonuses is not only "impossible" but it could result in less profit to the bank, flight of talent, alongside various other reasons.
However, the latest batch of media reports on Tuesday show that in the US, banks seem to be taking a different approach:
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So, according to this report, instead of culling bonuses from the top of the ladder, the junior banker will end up with little or none at all.
Many might argue that the top bankers are the best talent and with that notion we suppose banks are worried that, without paying top dollar, these bigwigs will look elsewhere and gain employment more easily.
And it doesn't take a genius to figure out that junior bankers or those starting employment in the industry will most likely stay put, even with no bonus, because with the amount of job cuts on Wall Street alone, it does not bode well for starters seeking new employment.
So far, these reports have not been confirmed by the individual banks, according to the report, but time will tell if this will be an industry-wide strategy to appease governments and the public, without making a sacrifice for in-house talent.