Swedish PM: Bankers' bonus culture must stop
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said on Tuesday that the culture of large banking bonuses "must come to an end" as he opened a new parliamentary session.
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His comments came 10 days before a meeting of the Group of 20 top developed and developing countries in Pittsburgh to discuss new ways to regulate the global financial system.
"The bonus culture that has emerged must come to an end. We have a unique opportunity to make progress on this issue when world leaders meet in Pittsburgh," Reinfeldt told the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag.
"More stringent rules are needed to restrict over-generous bonuses and compensation systems," he added.
The Swedish government said in March that it would ban all bonuses in all public companies and called on the private sector to follow its example.
On September 5, G20 finance ministers agreed at a meeting in London that the bonus system should be transparent and should only reward long-term success.
They also said bonuses should be not handed out to bankers who performed badly and created losses.
France has been pressing for a cap on bonuses but that proposal has found little favour with Britain or the United States.
Reinfeldt, whose country currently holds the presidency of the European Union, said meanwhile there were "ever more signs now indicating that both the global and the Swedish economies are beginning to stabilise.
"We seem to have weathered the worst of the storms. The risks of a substantial economic downturn have abated," he said.
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Last Updated (Tuesday, 15 September 2009 19:36)
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