Economic crisis, but not for rich Britons

This video from Britain says about itself:

HSBC Laundered Billions In Cartel Cash And Got Away With It

Jan 9, 2013

HSBC, the world’s third largest bank and its 6th largest company, has paid a record $1.92 billion settlement after U.S. investigators found that it spent years committing serious crimes involving money laundering for Mexican drug cartels, moving tainted money for Saudi banks tied to terrorist groups and for nations like Iran. Those investigations even uncovered substantial evidence “that senior bank officials were complicit in the illegal activity.”

Shameless HSBC bank bosses posted profits today of £13.7 billion – at the same time as launching an attack on their workers’ pension scheme: here.

By Paddy McGuffin in Britain:

Top bosses laughing all the way to the bank

Monday 04 March 2013

Directors’ pay at FTSE 100 firms soared last year, growing up to seven times faster than the average worker’s wages.

Researchers at Incomes Data Services said that while millions of ordinary people are suffering on ever-shrinking salaries, the bosses of Britain’s top companies were raking in the cash.

Non-executive chairmen saw their pay rise by 6 per cent on average last year, taking home nearly £400,000 each.

Their fees ranged from an average of £270,000 in technology firms to over half a million pounds at oil and gas companies.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said it showed that “we need urgent reform of boardroom pay.

“Top directors are showing little restraint while millions of workers are suffering real-term losses to their incomes and are really feeling the squeeze on their living standards.”

And ordinary directors still managed to get their hands on £64,000 – a 4 per cent increase on 2011 and double what they charged in 2000.

Meanwhile the chairmen of company remuneration committees – the people who set the pay for executives – snagged an eye-watering 14 per cent increase.

Ms O’Grady said that “these bumper settlements bear little relation to performance” and it showed the need for workers to sit on pay committees.

The figures were published as reports surfaced that HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver will receive a £2 million bonus as part of a total package reportedly worth up to £7m for 2012.

But while company chiefs filled their boots research by the Labour Party showed that British workers had taken a huge hit to their pay packets.

Real wages – pay minus inflation – fell by 3.2 per cent between the third quarter of 2010 and the third quarter of 2012, the same as in Portugal.

Among the 27 EU member states, only the Netherlands, Cyprus and Greece suffered greater drops.

By Rory MacKinnon in Britain:

Disabled left £10 worse off a week

Monday 04 March 2013

“Perverse” housing benefit cuts will strip disabled tenants of more than £10 a week even after stop-gap payments, housing associations have warned.

The National Housing Federation poured scorn on the coalition’s bedroom tax yesterday as it showed discretionary council top-ups for disabled people will fail to cover even a fifth of the average shortfall.

The federation called on the government to repeal the “ill-conceived” bedroom tax or “at the very least” exempt disabled and other vulnerable people.

From April the bedroom tax will see housing benefits rationed out even more meagrely, with a 14 per cent benefit cut for any tenant with a spare bedroom.

Chancellor George Osborne’s Funding For Lending hand outs are mostly just funding banks’ shareholders, official figures showed today: here.

Related articles

• £2m windfall for HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver despite fine (metro.co.uk)
• HSBC Annual Profit Falls on Money-Laundering Charges (dealbook.nytimes.com)
• HSBC reports $20bn profit despite fine (metro.co.uk)
• HSBC pays 78 City bankers £1m after fine for money laundering (standard.co.uk)
• HSBC chief set to earn £8m bonus (express.co.uk)