Wednesday, Feb 17, 2010
Come and join the celebration!
The Guardian: Barclays call on people to celebrate 'remarkable' comeback
Bank's president says people should be 'immensely proud' that Barclays Capital was the top bonds trader in 2009.
The president of Barclays called on people to celebrate the bank's "remarkable" financial comeback today, striking a defiant tone in the face of questions over a new plan to pay £2.2bn in bonuses.
Announcing record 2009 profits of £11.6bn, Bob Diamond shrugged off charges that the British bank's performance relied heavily on government support for the financial system and asked why there was "edge" to questions about pay.
"The facts are this is a remarkable story from a UK bank," said Diamond. He said people should be "immensely proud" that Barclays Capital was the number one in the world for bond trading.
Posted by devo @ 07:38 AM (1004 views) Add Comment
26 Comments
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1. devo said...
So I'm asked to celebrate the making of filthy profits, made by gambling with my money, by Apartheid's Bankers?
no thanks
2. nomad said...
After all they are doing God's work!
If our politicians won't cut them down to size then another way will have to be found. The return of the stocks or Madame Guillotine perhaps?
3. devo said...
from the comments...
It's 'us' v 'them'.
The first thing we ALL have to do is never use a credit card again, just to begin with. Are we that strong?...
4. layers said...
And how exactly did they make all this money I wonder? Trading govt bonds as part of QE? If so it must be like shooting fish in a barrel. Well done Barclays - not
5. Mikelivingstone said...
I don't think having the price of the assets you own inflated HMG actually is any achievement at all.
If the Government decided to give a million pounds to anyone who owned a house in Brighton, suddenly the price of houses in Brighton would shoot up.
6. hpwatcher said...
There is a huge bubble in bonds........
7. tyrellcorporation said...
LOL, yep a remarkable comeback indeed - these guys would be looking for jobs now if it wasn't for tax payers. I think this guy should be thanking us for keeping his company afloat when it should by now be consigned to the history books because of the crass decision making over the last 5-6 years.
These guys have no shame!
8. paul said...
Remember, the MPC may need to restart QE if these people don't make enough money too.
9. Thecountofnowhere said...
Proud !!! I went and closed my account today !!!
10. doomwatch said...
"Tell me Bob, this bond profit, what's realised and what's unrealised ?" That should have been the question the hacks asked.
11. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
12. charlie brooker said...
At a time when most ordinary folk are struggling and/or living in fear this comes as a colossal insult to our collective intelligence; its like being asked to celebrate Sheriff of Nottingham forcibly marrying Maid Marion.
These guys have absolutely no idea of unpopular they are - or they simply don't care.
13. Crunchy said...
Party for the Plebs.
Who peed in the Punch Bowl?
14. layers said...
Of course they don't care! They wouldn't have made the ruthless decisions that necessite their rise to the top of the pile if they did - or am I being too harsh LoL
BTW - anyone see the LTSB mortgage ad in the papers this morning?! Unbelievable as they're actively encouraging the bank of mum and dad to stump up 20k (as a savings account no less) so that a first time buyer can put down 5% deposit (assuming 100k) and take 'advantage' of a 75% LTV. Seems like a very bad idea and shows how deperate they are to lessen the risk profile for lending!
15. mark wadsworth said...
@ Layers, yup, they (well we, actually) paid for a four page centre spread/pullout in e.g. The Metro.
If you read right to the end the smallish print it says "if purchaser defaults etc we will nab the parents' deposit"
I do wonder how stupid people are. Why would I lend money to the bank for 4.2% (subject to tax) just so that they can on-lend it to my children at 5% (with no tax deduction)? Why wouldn't I just informally lend it to my children and charge them interest myself (if I were that ruthless)?
16. 51ck-6-51x said...
Lucky ol' Barclay's Capital, they failed to outbid RBS for ABN-Amro and played the game that made sense once the central banks of the world started trying to dig their economies out of a hole. If they hadn't failed to make the winning bid we'd no doubt be reading that RBS has made record profits right now.
Let's each go down the bookies and place £100 on the underdog of a different race until I one of us wins big - forget how much was spent in the process, let's celebrate those colossal winnings!
17. layers said...
@12 Mark W - exactly , it beggers belief. Well done on reading the small print, I just assumed that would be the case!
18. iguana said...
Just how much of Barclays net worth is in toxic assets that have not been marked to market?
19. Ndg said...
Well they have got balls. Bit like asking the rest of the team to celebrate your perfect 'own goal' which secured a lifetime relegation.
Happy days. Good to see they have a sense of humour.
20. rumble said...
9. Thecountofnowhere said...
Proud !!! I went and closed my account today !!!
Respect.
21. Evil Andy said...
If Barclays traded tulips they would probably be the best tulips in the World.
22. 51ck-6-51x said...
For those of you who missed that Metro ad, or don't commute in the London area:
Here is a pdf of it.
23. 51ck-6-51x said...
product's web page
Note also that after 3 1/2 years the savings rate reverts to variable BoE Base - 0.5%.
This product is horrid horrid horrid.
24. letthemfall said...
Something bigger than their bonuses then - their conceit.
25. mark wadsworth said...
666. nice one, the bit I was referring to is the second to last paragraph of the whole four page document.
26. 51ck-6-51x said...
Oh, boo. Metro's server-side pdf's expire relatively quickly. Well, anyone who is still interested can look by going to the Metro's website, clicking the on-line version and flicking through the f,lash pages or creating their own pdf therein (until it's off-archive I suppose!).