Europe puts limits on banker bonuses

"It's a directive and leaves some leeway to member states to implement the legislation, having regard to domestic conditions," explains Philip Whyte, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank. … Mr Whyte says that his main worry about the new rules concerns what he says is a tendency in some quarters of Europe to believe that all that was largely needed to stabilize financial systems was to curb bonuses and regulate hedge funds. "I think that there are a lot of very important issues which affect financial stability and which are either being ignored or not reaching the top of the agenda because of some countries."