By Jaime Ortega.
Bankers in London seems to top have topped most bankers from other European Countries as shown by various financial reports including a few statistics shown by the International Monetary Fund.
The figures speak for themselves: a total of 3,175 bankers earn more than a million euros in the EU, and three quarters of them are in the UK, mainly in the City of London, that turned into the real bastion of culture of excess and ‘bonus’ deals.
A total of 2,436 bankers fall into the category of millionaires in Britain, compared to 739 in the rest of the EU. Germany, second on the list, just come to the 170, while in France they are about 160.
In Spain, the number of ‘high earners’ in the banking sector reached too 125, up from the 119 in Italy and in contrast to 14 in Sweden and 5 in Norway. Spain and then Italy will head out the annual average that is perceived to be set by millionaire bankers: a total of 2.4 million will head in 2011.
Also the most powerful banks in Spain, Banco Santander and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria seem to be the most solvent banks in the list.
According to data from the European Banking Authority, in eight EU countries no banker topped one million euros, although the countries most affected by the crisis has not escaped the trend, as evidenced by the 21 bankers millionaires that were “rescued” in Ireland or the 13 neighboring Portugal.
The data has left some data out but yet the gap between the City of London from the rest of the EU, hence the fierce resistance of politicians and British financiers for any attempt to regulate the culture of the ‘bonus’ bank.
“These numbers certainly illustrate the problems of the huge salaries of bankers in contrast to the big austerity that affects most people,” said Labour MP Pat McFadden, opposition spokesman on Treasury committee. “The problem is that the bonds will continue to pay regardless of the risks or the prospects of future results.”
In 2011, despite the problems of the British economy, the City bonus paid a total of 2,700 million euros, three times more than conventional wages paid.
