What the bank results tell us about their and UK economy’s health
Four of Britain’s biggest banks reported annual results this week and insisted they were robust enough to withstand another global downturn. But what did the results for HSBC, Standard Chartered and the bailed-out duo of Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland tell us about the industry and the wider economy?
Bonuses have not gone away, despite considerable public and political anger over pay since the 2008 crash. When the pay disclosures of the four banks from their annual results are added up, 800 or so of their employees received more than €1m (£790,000) in 2015. Barclays will add to that tally when its annual figures are published on Tuesday next week.
The four banks who have reported so far have cut their bonus pools for 2015, but that total still stands at £3...