LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Britain's finance minister Alistair Darling wrote in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that the plans an independent review of banks' management and bonus structure.
'We cannot return to business as usual,' Darling said, according to extracts of the article released ahead of publication.
'It is in everyone's interest to get banks' governance right. It would be wrong to reward people whose excessive risk-taking brought the banks down, causing misery to millions of their customers. Success should be rewarded. Failure should not.'
The Sunday Telegraph said Darling would announce full details of the review on Monday.
Darling's colleague Harriet Harman, leader of the lower house of Britain's parliament, said at a Labour Party conference on Saturday that banks' bonuses contributed to the earnings gap between men and women working in the financial services sector.
Darling and Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a multi-billion pound bailout plan in October for British banks that had lost market confidence, which has fuelled criticism of their employees' remuneration.
Legislators will question executives from a range of banks including Lloyds, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and Banco Santander on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
(Reporting by David Milliken)
((Reuters Messaging: david.milliken.reuters.com@reuters.net; david.milliken@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5109)
Keywords: BRITAIN DARLING/
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'We cannot return to business as usual,' Darling said, according to extracts of the article released ahead of publication.
'It is in everyone's interest to get banks' governance right. It would be wrong to reward people whose excessive risk-taking brought the banks down, causing misery to millions of their customers. Success should be rewarded. Failure should not.'
The Sunday Telegraph said Darling would announce full details of the review on Monday.
Darling's colleague Harriet Harman, leader of the lower house of Britain's parliament, said at a Labour Party conference on Saturday that banks' bonuses contributed to the earnings gap between men and women working in the financial services sector.
Darling and Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a multi-billion pound bailout plan in October for British banks that had lost market confidence, which has fuelled criticism of their employees' remuneration.
Legislators will question executives from a range of banks including Lloyds, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and Banco Santander on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
(Reporting by David Milliken)
((Reuters Messaging: david.milliken.reuters.com@reuters.net; david.milliken@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5109)
Keywords: BRITAIN DARLING/
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.