SVM questions return of bank bonus culture

SVM Asset Management's managing director Colin McLean has questioned whether banks should be paying out large bonuses again.

McLean says the return of big bonuses implies the sector has been restored to its former health, but its shareprice falls since October suggest the market disagrees. The UK banking sector is 8% below its levels of 1 October. McLean says: "Big bonuses are at odds with the sharp fall in shares. Global banks still hold questionable assets. Rights issues exceeded dividend payouts in 2009. Large parts of bank balance sheets are not valued at market prices [and] risks may not be fully reflected in today's share prices. "Many of the problems of 2008 never really went away. The global ban...