Euromoney ran a story almost a month ago about how Credit Suisse had decided to reward its staff with a load of toxic waste it had lying around on its balance sheet. This week, the market has been full of buzz about the process of signing up for the incentive scheme. The talk is that if staff want to qualify for a cash retention award, they have to agree to the scheme this week. If they delay, then the amount of compensation they will receive declines to the point where they will get what is colloquially known as diddlysquat.
Not so, says an exasperated spokeswoman for the bank. Staff must sign this week if they want to get their bonus certificates in their next pay packets. If they delay, it will just mean they get them later, she adds. Apparently, the mood in the bank is very much split along the lines of departments. If you worked in the bit that lost all the money, I imagine the bonus glass looks very much half full. If you are in the bit that has had a record year, then it must feel half empty.