FINANCIAL SERVICES
FSA urged to publish total number of UK bankers earning £1m-plus
Treasury Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie has today asked the Financial Services Authority to provide more disclosure on the pay of Britain’s top bankers - in aggregate form rather than on a bank-by-bank basis as originally suggested in the Walker review.
In his letter to Hector Sants, FSA chief executive, Tyrie argues that the watchdog could gather data on the total number of “high end” employees earning more than £1 million in bands which it could publish, while not identifying the individual banks. He believes that this would provide greater transparency and show how many top bankers earn multimillion-pound packages, while at the same time easing concerns that the competitiveness of banks could be damaged if the UK acted alone.
Andrew Tyrie said:
“As we have heard in evidence to the Committee, without international agreement for disclosure of remuneration at the top level, the banks are understandably reluctant to release information which they consider may place individual firms at a competitive disadvantage.
“I am today writing to Hector Sants to see if as much as possible of this information can be provided in an aggregate form, providing greater transparency, while meeting the banks’ concerns.”
Want to know more?
You can download Andrew Tyrie’s letter in PDF format from the Commons Select Committee web site at www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/treasury-committee/news/disclosure-of-banking-pay/.
The Treasury Committee is “appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs, and associated public bodies, including the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority.” To find our more visit www.parliament.uk.