Bonuses of £2bn expected from taxpayers' banks

MORE than £2 billion of bonuses are expected to be paid this year by banks who have been supported by the taxpayer.

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is now nearly 70 per cent owned by the UK Government, is set to pay out up to £1bn to its staff.

It is contractually obliged to pay £500 million to former employees of Dutch bank ABN Amro. The rest is to bankers in successful parts of its business.

RBS has set a cap of £25,000 on the cash element of any bonus, with the bulk of large bonuses paid in shares.

Lloyds Banking Group is understood to be planning millions of pounds of bonuses. It was also estimated today that outgoing HBOS directors left with combined payments of up to £4.5m.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper urged senior bankers to look to their own consciences even if they felt legally entitled to a bonus.