Britain and France take "fat cat" bonus culture to task

By Luke Baker

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and France took aim at wealthy bankers and traders on Sunday, describing the bonus culture as "perverse" and "unacceptable" as officials sought culprits in the global financial crisis.

The prime minister, France's economy minister and the chief regulator of London's financial markets all pointed the finger at the pay structure among investment banks and brokerages and called for a reining in of excess.

"There's been a great deal of irresponsibility," Prime Minister Gordon Brown told BBC television on the second-day of Labour's annual conference, where he is trying to revive his dented political fortunes.

"Mistakes have been made in the City. There's an element of the bonus system that is unacceptable... Everyone knows there is going to have to be changes in that."

So-called "fat cats" in the City -- London's financial centre -- are a frequent target of the media.

But they have come in for particular criticism in the past week as banks that paid multi-million-dollar bonuses last year moved to the brink of collapse in the stock market meltdown.

France too has been quick to denounce the big-money bonus culture of the banking industry, especially since the turmoil at Societe Generale at the start of this year, when rogue trader Jerome Kerviel cost the bank billions of euros.

"The pay structures of a certain number of notably investment banks were perverse and their effects caused greedy and blind behaviour," Christine Lagarde, France's economy minister, told Europe 1 radio on Sunday.