Unprofitable and bailed-out French bank Natixis said on Friday it would award 70 million euros (US$95 million) in bonuses, further fueling controversy over payouts to executives of companies rescued with taxpayer money.
The government plans to issue a decree next week limiting or banning bonuses and stock options at companies bailed out with public funds, a reaction to growing discontent over what some see as the corporate greed that caused the financial crisis.
The Natixis bonuses for 3,000 staff are 73 percent lower than in 2007, said a company official who was not authorized to speak publicly because of company policy. Senior managers gave up all stock options and bonuses, she said.
The bonuses are mainly for employees in the bank’s financing operations and less than a third of traders will get a bonus, she said.
Troubles at Natixis, which lost 2.8 billion euros last year, caused its key owners Caisse d’Epargne and Banque Populaire to merge last month.
Natixis has already received 2 billion euros in state aid through a bailout package for France’s largest banks, and its two parents are set to receive another 5 billion euros.
Last year, Natixis said it was cutting 15 percent of its investment banking staff, or 840 jobs.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s governing conservative party UMP demanded a detailed explanation of Natixis’ bonuses.
“How can we justify the attribution of such sums given Natixis’ poor global performance?” UMP spokesman Frederic Lefebvre asked.
GdF Suez said on Thursday that the executives ***--*** chairman Gerard Mestrallet and vice chairman Jean-Francois Cirelli ***--*** had decided to give up the stock options granted last year “out of concern for responsibility.”
Striking port workers who disrupted activity at the company’s two liquefied natural gas terminals in France pressured the move.
Under pressure from the government, top executives at French bank Societe Generale, which took government bailout funds, gave up tens of thousands of stock options earlier this week.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
‘LASER-FOCUSED’: Trump pledged tariffs on specific sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, steel, copper and aluminum, and perhaps even cars US President Donald Trump said he wants to enact across-the-board tariffs that are “much bigger” than 2.5 percent, the latest in a string of signals that he is preparing widespread levies to reshape US supply chains. “I have it in my mind what it’s going to be but I won’t be setting it yet, but it’ll be enough to protect our country,” Trump told reporters on Monday night. Asked about a report that incoming US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent favored starting with a global rate of 2.5 percent, Trump said he did not think Bessent supported that and would not