The European Union's executive will examine imposing extra curbs on bank bonuses, the bloc's top official in charge of financial reform said today.
Speaking to an industry gathering, Michel Barnier told bankers to be careful when making big payouts, saying he could beef up tough EU rules that already force the deferral of bonus payments over years and set strict limits on cash windfalls.
'We will look into current measures on remuneration and we will look into whether or not it is enough,' the French commissioner said. 'Remuneration, bonuses - these are the things that are shocking for people who find it difficult to get to the month's end,' he said.
'Banks are part of European society. They should take this into account,' he added.
New rules imposed from the start of January already set the world's toughest curbs on bank bonuses on the 27 member states of the European Union.
Barnier's comments follow Britain's finalising of a tortuous deal with banks yesterday, called 'Project Merlin', to curb bonuses and boost lending to business, one that critics said would be hard to enforce.
Britain's finance minister, George Osborne, said the deal would see Britain's top banks lend more to business. Major banks also agreed to cut their bonuses for staff this year and to link their chief executives' remuneration to how much money their companies lend to small and medium-sized businesses.
Earlier this week, the British government sprang a surprise by saddling its heavyweight banks with an extra £800m sterling in taxes this year as it brought forward existing plans to impose a £2.5 billion a year levy on them from 2012.
