Lloyds staff set to receive £80m bonus

Staff at Lloyds Banking Group are in line for an £80 million cash bonus in spite of the taxpayer stake increasing from 43% to 65% after it signed up to the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme over the weekend.

The scheme, which insures against losses arising from toxic assets, will see Lloyds commit to lending at least £28 billion over the next few years. The Treasury will insure up to £260 billion of Lloyd’s toxic assets.

Meanwhile, with regard to bonuses, according to the BBC the £80 million is to be paid to staff earning an average salary of £17,000.

The bonuses have been approved by the UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the Government-owned body which was established late last year with the responsibility of maximising value for taxpayers.

Junior staff and other low-level employees at Lloyds should not suffer as a result of the problems the bank has faced, according to the UKFI.

The UKFI also said that senior managers would have to wait at least three years to receive bonuses related to their performance in 2008.

It is understood that bonuses of £1,000 each will be awarded for 40,000 junior branch staff and other low-level employees.

While the £80 million bonus payout is lower than the £120 million originally thought, it is still expected to cause public outcry, as has news of other bonuses to several other High Street banks, since many have blamed banks for the recession.

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