Now bankers have the nerve to sue for £30m in lost bonuses



A group of City bankers is flying in the face of public anger and suing an investment bank for £30million in unpaid bonuses.

The lawsuit, the biggest of its kind ever lodged in London, comes as the Government attempts to curb excessive payouts, which have been blamed for contributing to last year's financial meltdown.

The 72 traders and dealmakers - all current or former staff of German bank Dresdner Kleinwort - claim they were paid just a tenth of the bonuses they were promised.



Lawsuit: Seventy-two bankers who work for, or used to work for, Dresdner Kleinwort's London office have sued for £30million in unpaid bonuses

Six of the claimants are demanding more than £1million each - despite Dresdner making a loss of £5.5billion last year.

The biggest single claim is by Jonathan Powell, a former options trader for the bank, who is asking for £1.46million. He says he is missing out on £319 in interest each day on the outstanding amount.

Also on the list are foreign exchange traders Ian Robertson, who is claiming for £1,313,940 and Dominic Yip, who is demanding £1,062,275. Both calculate daily interest on the sums as £288 and £232 respectively.

Head of energy trading Sergio Pagani - claiming £944,268 - and head of inflation trading, Matthieu Robert - demanding £885,140 - are also included.

The extraordinary class action comes nearly a year since the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers, which wreaked havoc in the banking sector and triggered the global recession.

Eddy Weatherill, chief of consumer group the Independent Banking Advisory Service, said: 'That sort of legal action will fuel others to attempt it.

'At some stage common sense must reign. It doesn't matter what economic cycle we are in, the bankers always come out smelling of roses.'



The claims were launched yesterday in the High Court against Dresdner and its new owner Commerzbank. It is believed that the case will be heard sometime next year although some experts believe the bank could settle in advance.

The claimants - all of whom come from a part of the bank that was profitable and focused on bonds and fixed income activities - argue that the bank reneged on guarantees to pay out bonuses worth a minimum of 400million euros (£351million).

Clive Zietman, partner at Stewarts Law, which is representing the bankers, said: 'This is a very strong case and in some ways a very straightforward case.'

However, a spokesman for Commerzbank said that a slump in its profits last November and December resulted in a 'material adverse change' in its fortunes, which entitled the bank to pay just 10 per cent of what it had originally earmarked.

He added: 'Dresdner Bank was entitled to take the actions it did in relation to these Dresdner Kleinwort employees' discretionary bonuses in light of the marked deterioration in the investment bank's performance in the months of November and December 2008.

'We will be defending these claims vigorously in the courts.'

Although he refused to say how many of the claimants still work within the bank, it is believed only a handful remain.

Commerzbank has embarked on a wave of redundancies this year, and is still restructuring its UK operations. As a result, the fate of many of its employees is still uncertain.

The lawsuit was filed as leading bank executives defended the City's bonus culture yesterday.

Deutsche Bank's chief executive Josef Ackermann said banks were still vying to hire the best dealmakers by offering lucrative pay packages, and attacked regulators for putting 'too much focus on bonuses'.

Meanwhile, Walid Chammah, co-president of Morgan Stanley, said his firm is 'against absolute caps on compensation levels'.

Commerzbank is being represented by law firm Linklaters.