Public Subsidies For Banks

EDM number 1094 in 2009-10, proposed by Dai Davies on 16/03/2010.
Categorised under the topic of Financial institutions.

That this House agrees with the trenchant comments on bankers made by Lord Myners, Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury in his article in The Guardian newspaper on 9 March 2010; supports particularly the assessment that in the past implicit support of the financial industry has probably represented the most expensive public subsidy provided to any industry, and his view that there is no reason why taxpayers should continue to provide subsidy to the cost of capital for the banking system; contrasts these sensible policy conclusions with the indefensible actions of the remuneration committee of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), supported by UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI Ltd), to award nine senior bankers nearly £10,000,000 in bonuses, including 15.5 million RBS shares worth £5,900,000 given to John Hourican, head of the RBS investment arm, and 792,000 shares to Paul Geddes, head of RBS insurance arm, despite the dramatic drop in its profits; remains unconvinced that huge bonuses are needed to retain the services of top bankers; believes that no bonuses should be paid to senior bankers at RBS, which was saved from bankruptcy in 2008 by £54,000,000,000 of taxpayers' money and is currently 84 per cent. owned by taxpayers; and calls on the Chancellor to instruct UKFI Ltd, as Treasury agents for the private banks in receipt of taxpayer support, to halt these grotesquely generous, unacceptable bonus payments.

This motion has been signed by a total of 25 MPs.