The Labour party (PvdA) and the Socialists are working on draft legislation to outlaw bonuses in the banking and insurance sector, according to media reports on Wednesday.

At the moment bank executives may not be given bonuses which exceed their annual salary but the PvdA and SP want to expand that to cover all banking and insurance staff, and limit bonuses to 20% of annual salary.
The PvdA’s finance spokesman Ronald Plasterk says the measure should apply to all banks with a licence to operate in the Netherlands.
Wrong signals
‘Bonuses in the financial sector give the wrong signals on performance and set a bad example,’ Plasterk is quoted as saying by the Financieele Dagblad. ‘Bonuses are also bad for the reputation of the financial sector.’
He hopes the anti-Islam PVV and the left-wing greens GroenLinks will support the measure – which would give the proposal a majority in parliament.
The government has already agreed that executives at banks which have been given state support are not eligible for bonuses but that legislation still needs to be debated by parliament.
The voluntary banking code of conduct has a bonus ceiling of 100% of salary.