AMSTERDAM (AP) The Netherlands' finance minister says he plans to introduce a law that would cap bonuses in the banking sector to no more than 20 percent of total salary.
In his weekly appearance on RTL television, Jeroen Dijsselbloem said looser rules may apply abroad, but "where the Netherlands is boss" the cap will be enforced.
Government intervention in private-sector pay is rare, but the Dutch banking sector is dominated by four big banks, and isn't really private. Leading retail bank ABN Amro was nationalized in 2008, while ING kept afloat in 2008-2009 with support it still hasn't fully repaid. SNS Bank was nationalized last year due to real-estate investments gone bad, and the cooperative Rabobank has itself renounced bonuses after being caught up in the Libor rate-fixing scandal.
