Dotcom deal returns to haunts bank

AN internet banking expert hired at the height of the dotcom boom and sacked after the bubble burst, is suing over an alleged unpaid £250,000 bonus. Gareth Price Jones was recruited from investment bank Schroders by the German group Commerzbank in April 2000 to 'establish a team of analysts dedicated to researching internet stocks'.

Commerzbank allegedly promised to pay him a guaranteed bonus of at least £250,000 a year, plus a 'discretionary' annual bonus, according to a High Court writ. These incentives were said to be on top of Price Jones's undisclosed basic salary.

But after paying three separate bonuses totalling £780,000 over the following 18 months - one of which Price Jones used to pay off his mortgage - Commerzbank is said to have sacked him in November last year.

Price Jones claims that despite having promised a further £250,000 bonus payment, Commerzbank 'wrongly failed and/or refused to pay the sum due'. Commerzbank said it would defend itself against the allegations.