Chief executive of Goldman Sachs’, Lloyd Blankfein has
publicly admitted that the reason behind the bank’s decision to drop its plan
to save its British employees millions of pounds in bonuses through tax
avoidance schemes was due to media pressure and outrage.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
Blankfein said "We were very, very influenced by the press and that's
certainly not embarrassing. We have to take account of it. We are a business
that deals with the public. Public opinion is important to us. We can debate
certain aspects of it, but it is not a winning game, it's a getting
on game."
The firm planned to pay out deferred bonuses to their UK
staff after the 6th of April in order to take advantage of the
reduction of income tax to 45p.
Despite receiving a £12b bonus himself, Blankfield insisted
that there was nothing morally askew with what the firm had been planning. He
said "People are allowed to organise their affairs in a way other than to
maximise taxes. People may choose to sell their house in one tax year and not
sell it in another, and that wouldn't be criminalised in any sense. It's not
even considered to be bad behaviour."
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