HSBC, Barclays to pay 2 bn pound bonus: Report

LONDON: Global banking giant HSBC and financial services major Barclays are likely to payout bonuses of up to 2 billion pound in the next few weeks even as the British government has demanded restraint in this regard, media report says.

"HSBC and Barclays are to defy Gordon Browns demands for restraint on bonuses by paying out up to two billion pound worth of bonuses in the next few weeks," the Sunday Times said.

HSBC's bonus pool has been slashed by more than a third, but there will still be big payouts, including to the directors, the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, Barclays, which may yet join the government's insurance scheme, is also expected to pay out more than one billion pound in bonuses to its staff in the next few days, in a mixture of cash and shares.

"The timing of the payments could further stoke the political controversy over City payouts," the report said.

Despite the global financial chaos, Britain's biggest bank, HSBC, is due to report profits of about 14 billion pound next week. It is expected to confirm it will be paying bonuses running to hundreds of millions of pounds to staff around the world, including investment bankers with "guaranteed" pay deals.