Osborne set for lonely fight on EU bank bonus cap
(Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne will have a first chance to challenge plans in Brussels to cap bankers' bonuses at a meeting on Tuesday, but he is unlikely to find enough support from fellow EU ministers to block a measure popular with voters.
European Union diplomats and the bloc's parliament agreed new rules last week that would prevent bankers from receiving bonuses bigger than their base salaries from next year. The bonus cap can rise to twice the size of the salary if shareholders agree.
Britain's powerful financial sector professionals fear the rules will put London at a disadvantage and provoke an exodus of major banks and staff to rival financial centres.
Osborne has argued against the limits and will repeat those objections at an EU ministers' meeting in Brussels. Few other countries, however, support his position, officials familiar with the discussions say, and since the measures only require a weighted majority of member states to become law, Britain has no veto.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/05/uk-eu-bonus-idUKBRE92400F20130305
HSBC have already made it clear they're not going anywhere - they're staying in London......not shipping off back to Hong Kong.
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