Lloyds boss declares: You will get your bonuses, why not?

THE head of Lloyds TSB has told staff they will get their bonuses this year despite Gordon Brown's promise to crack down on vast rewards at bailed-out banks.

Chief executive Eric Daniels said the bank would press ahead with its bonus payments, despite the injection of up to £5.5 billion of government money.

In words that will infuriate critics of the behaviour of the high-street banks, Mr Daniels said Lloyds TSB faced "very, very few restrictions" on the way it conducts itself.

"I think our staff have done a terrific job this year. There is no reason why we shouldn't," he said.

Lloyds TSB sees itself in a different situation from the two worst affected banks, Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS. Lloyds TSB is acquiring crippled HBOS in a rescue takeover that could leave the taxpayer owing 40 per cent of the combined group.

When he unveiled the Government bail-out of the banking industry last week the Prime Minister made it clear a curb on unjustified bonuses would be a condition of providing the money.

Directors at RBS, Lloyds TSB and HBOS will not take cash bonuses this year and Lloyds will ask its senior executives to take their 2008 and 2009 bonuses as shares.

Britain's financial services sector received around two thirds of the £26 billion in bonuses handed out to employees last year.

It emerged today that a trader is suing his firm for allegedly short changing him out of £92,000, despite receiving pay and bonus of more than £1.6 million.

Alexandre Mouradian, 38, head of the exchange traded options desk at Traditional Securities and Futures, is claiming that £92,571 was improperly deducted from the bonus pool for the second half of 2006. Documents lodged with the Court of Appeal show Mr Mouradian, of Kensington, had apportioned £1.32 million, or 92 per cent, of the bonus pool, for himself. This was on top of a £300,000 salary. Two junior members of his team were awarded £60,000 and £47,000 and another got only £2,000.