A banking recruiter reacted angrily to governor of the Bank of England’s comments that banks should tone down their City bonuses to help the economy.

Commenting on Mervyn King’s criticism of the City’s “hubris” yesterday, John Lacey, managing director of Longbridge Search & Selection, said: “What does Mervyn King think he’s playing at? City bonuses are totally outside of his remit as governor of the Bank of England – they’re the prerogative of independent businesses. This is a free market and if banks are to encourage in and retain talent, they have to reward in line with other employers both in the UK and overseas.”  

Lacey added that banks have a duty to their shareholders to maximise returns and should remunerate their staff in the way that maximises those returns.
 
He said: “Now, if banks are failing to maximise their returns that’s another matter entirely, but one for shareholders to deal with not the Bank of England. In any event I would have thought that Mervyn King has enough trouble to deal with without sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.”