The code of conduct on bankers’ bonuses drawn up by the Dutch banking association does not go far enough and leaves too much up to banks themselves, Christian Democrat MPs said in a parliamentary debate on Tuesday evening.

‘We have absolutely had enough. There need to be radical changes,’ the Financieele Dagblad quoted CDA finance spokesman Frans de Nerée as saying.
CDA MPs say banks’ supervisory boards should be required by law to submit every management bonus proposal to the central bank for approval. In addition, they say the relationship between salaries and variable bonuses should be enshrined in law.
The code of conduct states that performance related bonuses should not be higher than annual salary and if banks want to pay more they must explain their reasoning.
Labour (PvdA) MPs also called on the government to explain why traders and lower-level bankers would not be covered by the code of conduct.
Finance minister Wouter Bos will respond to MPs on Wednesday.