familar sound lol9 Feb 2011 09:42
The brainchild of former Barclays boss John Varley, the project aims to draw a line under the grievances that have blighted relations between Whitehall and the City, namely skyrocketing bonuses and a drought in business lending.
With Barclays set to kick off the UK banks' earnings season on Tuesday with an estimated £2.7bn bonus bonanza, the pressure to reach a comprehensive settlement is escalating
There were signs last night that the two sides were inching ever closer to a final rapprochement. City and Whitehall sources insisted that an announcement could be made by the end of this week.
Or maybe not. George Osborne's decision to drop his £800m bombshell could yet torpedo Project Merlin. As one board level executive told the Mail: 'Heaven knows when or if we'll get a Merlin deal done and what it will achieve.'
Notwithstanding the Chancellor's move to implement his £2.5bn bank levy in full this year, the broad parameters of the Merlin deal have already been agreed.
Britain's five main banks will pledge to increase their gross lending to businesses to around £190bn this year - up from £175bn in 2010.
A further £1.3bn will be pumped into an investment fund to help nurture new firms in regions most affected by the spending cuts.
There will also be reductions in this year's bonus round and greater transparency on remuneration: HSBC Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland will give full disclosure on pay for their top eight executives below board level, according to Whitehall sources.
Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=522608&in_page_id=2#ixzz1DS6hXGZb
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