EU govts approve banker pay curbs

European Union (EU) nations approved bank-capital and bonus rules for the 27-nation bloc in the face of continued opposition from the UK.

The measures, which ban bonuses of more than twice fixed pay, were approved on Wednesday at a meeting of national ambassadors, according to a spokeswoman for Ireland's EU presidency, who couldn't be identified in line with official policy. The UK was the only country to raise concerns at Wednesday's meeting and lacks the power to block the measures, according to an EU official.

"We've made clear that we cannot support this agreement," a UK diplomat said in an e-mailed statement.

The plans will lead to "increases in fixed pay for bankers, making it more difficult for banks to retain capital in a downturn."

European Parliament lawmakers and Ireland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, brokered a deal last week on how to apply an international overhaul of bank rules to the bloc's 8,300 lenders. Legislators insisted the package include banker pay curbs.

Following Wednesday's endorsement by ambassadors, the draft laws must be voted on by the Parliament, and signed off on by ministers, before they can take effect.

The UK doesn't have a veto on the plans, which require weighted majority support in the EU's Council of Ministers.

"The UK concerns on the bonus rules are well known," Chantal Hughes, a spokeswoman for Michel Barnier, the EU's financial-services chief, said in an interview.

"The UK was involved, as were all governments, in the long negotiations on the text and we believe that on all points their concerns were generally taken into account."