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Bank bosses enjoyed pay hikes in 2023, while rank-and-file workers were handed another year of stingy bonuses, according to this week’s round of earnings.

Nowhere was that more evident than at Standard Chartered, whose chief executive officer Bill Winters saw his pay package rise 22%, according to Bloomberg, citing the London-based bank’s 2023 earnings report released Friday.

Winter’s total compensation surged to roughly $9.9 million last year — a jump from $8.1 million in 2022 –despite Standard Chartered’s overall bonus pool falling 1%, to $1.57 billion, in 2023, Bloomberg reported.

The disparity between the board room and the cubicles was even worse among Wall Street’s major lenders.

Citibank chief Jane Fraser received a 6% pay bump, to $26 million, while its bonus pool tumbled about 20% in 2023, according to Financial News London.

A lot of people thought wed be at least flat on last year, an unnamed senior dealmaker at the firm told the outlet. People were shocked.

Fraser’s payout came as Citi’s profits plummeted 38% year-over-year at the bank in 2023.

Fraser implemented a sweeping overhaul intended to consolidate departments last November, with the goal of trimming the bank’s global headcount from 239,000 to 180,000.

Last month, Citi said that 20,000 staffers can expect to be handed a pink slip over the next two years after the bank reported its worst fourth-quarter earnings in 15 years.

Still, the bank’s board said that Frasers compensation increase was justified because of her execution of the most consequential set of changes to its organizational and management model since the 2008 financial crisis and the sale of international businesses.

Among peers on Wall Street, Morgan Stanleys former CEO  James Gorman got a pay bump of 17% in his final year heading up t he bank — which also slashed the size of its bonus pool.

Morgan Stanley’s rank-and-file received payouts that were slashed by as much as 15% from 2022 to 2023, Financial News reported.

Gorman is set to officially retire come May, ending his nearly two-decade tenure at Morgan Stanley, which reported a hit to its 2023 fiscal year earnings when it said profits plunged 32% year-over-year, to $1.5 billion.

Goldman Sachs CEO  David Solomon was another bank boss to get a pay bump despite lagging profits.

Solomon’s pay rose 24%, even though the firm posted a 24% decline in net profit last year as Goldman suffered from a slowdown in investment banking activity that led to thousands of job cuts.

Sources told The Post earlier this month that compensation at the firm was up $350 million from last year,” and a spokesperson for Goldman has insisted that its “compensation philosophy hasnt changed, were always focused on investing in our people, especially our top performers.

Despite reports on Financial News that Goldman bankers saw as much as a 10% raise in 2023, sources confirmed that employees may have received more or less than that depending on their performance.

JPMorgan Chase CEO  Jamie Dimons compensation also climbed 4.3% following a year of record profits for America’s largest lender.

The firm posted an impressive $49.6 billion in profits in 2023 — the most ever in US banking history.

As a result, compensation and morale remained relatively stable among the rank and file, sources told The Post.

One employee even went so far as to call his bonus awesome. 

HSBC CEO Noel Quinn saw his pay roughly double last year, from $7 million to $13.4 million, despite the widespread recession fears, stubbornly high inflation, layoffs, and cost cuts that defined the finance sector in 2023.

HSBC on Wednesday reported that its bonus pool also saw a 12% rise in 2023 — defying a trend of lackluster bonuses across the banking sector, per Bloomberg — as the UK lender enjoyed record profits on the heels of elevated interest rates.

Two banking chiefs didn’t have as much to celebrate: Bank of Americas Brian Moynihan saw his pay fall 3%, to $29 million.

In addition, Barclays’ CS Venkatakrishnan was also an outlier.

He saw his annual bonus slashed by 27%, according to Bloomberg, after the London-based firm reduced its bonus pool by 3% as a result of a 15% dip in profits attributed to reduced activity in its investment banking division.

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Entertainment

Madonna plays biggest-ever show to 1.6 million fans on Rio’s Copacabana beach

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Madonna plays biggest-ever show to 1.6 million fans on Rio's Copacabana beach

Madonna has played her biggest-ever gig to an estimated 1.6 million people on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.

It was the last show in her Celebration tour and she performed hits such Like A Prayer, Vogue, Hung Up, Into The Groove and Like A Virgin.

The Brazil city was buzzing ahead of Saturday’s free two-hour show, with hotels and Airbnb’s packed and about 170 extra flights expected into the city.

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

The famous Rio beach was packed with fans. Pic: AP
Image:
The famous Rio beach was packed with fans. Pic: AP

Helicopters and drones buzzed over the beach as the Queen of Pop took to the stage at 10:37pm, nearly 50 minutes late.

“Here we are in the most beautiful place in the world,” Madonna told the crowd as she pointed out Rio’s famous mountains and Christ the Redeemer statue.

The 65-year-old opened up with Nothing Really Matters from 1998’s Ray of Light album.

Eighteen speaker towers were dotted along the beach to ensure everyone could hear the US star’s vocals.

Brazilian musicians and people from local samba schools were involved in the show – with many fans dressing up in Madonna-themed outfits.

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

“Since Madonna arrived here, I’ve been coming every day with this outfit to welcome my idol, my diva, my pop queen,” said Rosemary de Oliveira Bohrer, 69, who wore a version of Madonna’s iconic gold cone bra.

Many fans had staked out a spot many hours – or even days – before the show, while others took in the spectacle from yachts or apartment balconies.

Madonna’s website said it was the biggest she had ever done – more than 10 times the 130,000 she played to in Paris in 1987.

However, Rio is used to huge shows – The Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart have played to similar-size crowds there.

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

Read more from Sky News:
Flight nightmare causes Murs to cancel gig with Take That
Is now a golden age for original musicals on the West End?

Thousands of police were on duty for Saturday’s show, which city authorities estimated drew a crowd of 1.6 million and would earn the local economy about 293 million reals (£46m).

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For Madonna, it was the culmination of an 81-date retrospective tour that began in London in October and moved across Europe and North and South America.

The singer embarked upon the tour a few months after being admitted to intensive care with a serious bacterial inaction in June 2023.

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UK

Bradford: One child dies and four other people taken to hospital after house fire

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Bradford: One child dies and four other people taken to hospital after house fire

A child has died in a house fire in Bradford.

A woman and three other children managed to escape the property and are being treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

In a statement, West Yorkshire Police said: “At 1.08 this morning (5 May) police were called by the fire service to reports of a serious house fire on Kingsdale Drive, Bradford.

“A woman and three children managed to escape the property and were taken to hospital for treatment. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

Police at scene of fatal house fire in Bradford
Police at scene of fatal house fire in Bradford

“A fourth child was found inside the address and was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene,” police added.

“A scene is currently in place at the address and police are working with the fire investigators to establish the exact cause of the fire.”

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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World

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu rejects ceasefire deal that would ‘leave Hamas intact’

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Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu rejects ceasefire deal that would 'leave Hamas intact'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected ceasefire proposals because he says Hamas’s call for a withdrawal of all troops from Gaza and an end to the war is unacceptable.

Mr Netanyahu said agreeing to such proposals would “leave Hamas intact” and leave the possibility of another attack in future.

“Surrendering to the demands of Hamas would be a terrible defeat for the State of Israel,” he said in a video statement.

Mediated negotiations for a pause in the fighting in return for the release of hostages held by Hamas have been going on in Egypt, but a deal still appears some way off.

Hamas said in a statement on Sunday it’s “still keen to reach a comprehensive, interconnected agreement that ends the aggression, guarantees withdrawal, and achieves a serious prisoner exchange deal”.

The impasse comes after Egyptian media reported “noticeable progress” in ceasefire talks on Saturday.

The proposal mediators had put to Hamas set out a three-stage process for an immediate, six-week ceasefire and partial release of Israeli hostages, with some sort of Israeli pull-out in exchange.

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More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed and more than 77,000 have been wounded in Israel’s military operation, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Israel has said it remains committed to a ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million have fled in search of safety, as it tries to wipe out Hamas.

The UN and others have warned of catastrophe if it goes ahead.

The war began in October after Hamas killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, when it launched a surprise attack.

More than 200 were abducted and many remain as hostages, while others are thought to have died.

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