The banks are gonna get some spanking

US President Barack Obama unveiled a "Spank the Banks" tax which will net $125 billion over a decade, in a bid to curb the "obscene" bonus culture. But his has not stopped the big investment banks from giving its top trader lavish bonuses.

Goldman Sachs hot shots are expected to land an 81 percent rise in pay and bonuses for 2009, leading Wall Street's biggest banks in rewarding staff with a total of $108 billion (US$100 billion).

Uk supertax vs  Obama’s spank the bank tax

In the UK, the new 50 percent "super-tax" on bonuses above $44,000 should pull around $530 million into the government's coffers.

Rival bank JP Morgan was slammed by politicians across the globe on Friday when it revealed plans to pay up 24,654 traders a vast $10.1 billion in bonuses. The bank was awarded $16.6 billion of US taxpayers' cash amid the global financial crisis last year. It has since repaid the loan, and last week posted a huge jump in profits to almost $13 billion.

Morgan Stanley is rumoured to be planning payouts worth $16 billion, despite being slated to have lost around $922 million this year. Citigroup is expected to pay out $5.5 billion in bonuses to its investment banking arm, despite preparing to report losses of $9.2 billion this week, according to The Sunday Times

US President Barack Obama will spank the banks with a £71BILLION tax on "obscene" profits. He unveiled plans for a decade-long levy on 50 of America's biggest financial institutions.

The tax could cost British banks in the States £900million a year. Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland all have big US businesses. President Obama insisted he would recoup "every single dime" used to bail out banks during the credit crunch.

We will have to wait and see if  Kevin Rudd comes out with some sorta similar tax over here “Screw the banks tax” . Suggestions welcome :)