There goes civilisation...

I hate to sounded jaded and cynical but someone somewhere in the company did a presentation to the board to show why that specific amount would be the most cost-efficient in terms of tax relief. Sorry cg5154 but I suspect that's what happened.

I'm sure you're right. But again... just because it's tax-efficient, doesn't mean it's worth any less to the people receiving it. The complaint here is that the banks aren't sharing the wealth, isn't it? Well, they are, and it's not peanuts either.

Again, like I said... banks are in the unfortunate position of "damned if you don't, damned if you do".