British Prime Minister Gordon Brown outlined on Wednesday four key changes that the government will apply to banking regulation, including the right to claw back bonuses from an employee based on their subsequent performance.

Writing in The Times newspaper, Brown said "old excesses" had to be consigned to the past and that banks needed to return to acting as "stewards, not speculators" with people's money.

The Prime Minister listed four "fairness principles" around the award of bonuses to employees in the financial sector: no reward for those who fail or who are associated with a loss; bonuses to be based on long-term sustainable performance; the right to claw back bonuses based on subsequent performance; and the consideration of pay and bonus structures by supervising regulators.

"I am certain that the values we celebrate in society -- hard work, entrepreneuralism, and responsibility not irresponsible short-termism, are the values that must underpin the future not only of our financial sector but for our economy as a whole," he said.

According to him, banks must again become trusted stewards, not speculators, with peoples' money. "With today's agreement on bonuses, we are taking further steps towards building a successive, competitive and responsible financial sector of the future."

The prime minister's words followed Tuesday's announcement by Chancellor Alistair Darling that the Royal Bank of Scotland bonuses would be cut from 2.5 million pounds (US$1.75 million) to the legal minimum of 175 million pounds and be paid in the form of shares rather than cash.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2009)