The burden of responsibility

31 August 2010 By Nicholas Paisner

The UK bonus tax prompted the Swiss bank to cut pay for top London staff by 30 pct last year. Now some are getting a special bonus. Credit Suisse has talked up its responsible culture. But whatever the origin of the plan, the impression is that it’s avoiding the tax in spirit.

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Credit Suisse will pay its Londonbased managing directors a bonus in September. The Swiss bank said that it "is committed to remaining competitive in the UK".

In January, Credit Suisse said it would cut its global bonus pool for 2009 by 5 percent as a result of the UK's bonus tax. Approximately 400 UKbased managing directors received bonuses 30 percent lower than they would otherwise have been. The bank said at the time that "reducing bonuses was the responsible and appropriate action to take".

(The third and fifth paragraphs of this column have been corrected to show bonuses will be paid in cash, not shares.)

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