BT bosses should scrap their bonuses after Italian accounting scandal

The fact that chief executive Gavin Patterson and the board have not volunteered to do so already is astounding, given the severity of the situation.

On Friday he admitted that the accounting irregularities in its Italian business, which will cost the firm at least £500million, went unnoticed for up to a decade.

Under normal circumstances, you would say BT is faring quite well and that Patterson and the board deserve their payouts. 

Last year Patterson was awarded a £1million cash bonus and £3million of incentive shares.

However these are not normal times and the directors should not wait for the Remuneration Committee to finish its deliberations on whether or not it should grant any awards for 2016.

Indeed, the Committee should go further and seek to clawback bonuses paid to BT’s former directors, such as Patterson’s predecessor Lord Livingstone, who left the firm in 2013. 

If it does not, it will have failed in its duty to shareholders.

Patterson says that the firm’s management is “committed to ensuring the highest standards across the whole of BT”.

If he and his fellow directors are serious about that, they can begin by behaving honourably and demonstrating leadership by sacrificing their bonuses.