Unusually for an August the topic of bonuses is back in the news pages. This isn’t surprising given that the recession has been firmly blamed on reckless bankers supposedly taking unnecessary risks to generate huge returns that almost led the banking system to collapse last autumn. Both Barclays and HSBC have announced huge profits for the last six months. In Barclays case it was £3bn up 8% on the equivalent period last year, and the comparable figure for HSBC was £2.8bn. Both banks also revealed that they were making massive provision for bad debts. Bob Diamond, the head of Barclays Capital (BarCap) was on the front page of The Independent on Tuesday, where it was reported that he had received a remuneration package in excess of $50mn at the height of the boom. The Independent also reported that the “average net income generated per member of staff” at BarCap had increased from £134,000 to £193,000 per member of staff in the last six months. The FT also reports today that a US hedge fund group called Och-Ziff, based in the US made a loss of $88.3mn because of a 74% increase in bonuses paid to its top traders. At the Dale Langley & Co website we recently posted on the steps the FSA are taking to try and restrict remuneration packages – click here to visit. The government, the FSA and the public are all determined to stick the boot in.