The millions of dollars that Bank of Bermuda executives could receive under the proposed sale to multinational banking giant HSBC continues to fuel the fires of bank employee anger.

Bank management had previously said that an executive bonus payment that was tied to job cuts had been one of the areas that staff had grilled them on at company meetings.

Under the terms of the executive bonus agreement, the company?s five top executives could receive more than $11 million in cash and investment options ? $6.59 million in cash and $4.7 million in HSBC restricted shares ? if 150 bank staff are made redundant while 70 percent of those employees defined as ?key? are retained.

A number of employees speaking with on condition of anonymity said anger at some aspects of the deal went far beyond what had been voiced at the bank?s staff meetings.

One employee said: ?What employees are upset about, as I understand it, are the bonuses that executives are going to receive.?

He also took exception to management having publicly stated that such bonus payments were the norm for the industry. ?More than $11 million being paid to the top five executives would be normal in this sort of transaction, if this was a normal organisation, but it is not,? the banker said, adding that the bonus was a point of contention because it was seen as profiting those who had not run the bank well in recent years.

He continued: ?Anyone can see this looking at the bank?s numbers, and yet not only are these individuals getting options, they are going to get a big bonus.

?The bank has under-performed for several years now, leading to the widely-held perception (among staff) that the executives should not have been rewarded for what is essentially, under-performance.?

Although not wishing to be named, as he cited using his name as akin to ?career suicide?, he said he felt the executives should make themselves the first of the 150 redundancies to be made under their $11 million bonus agreement.

He concluded: ?There is a lot of anger in the bank for rewarding people that have not performed well in running the bank.?

However, at least one staff member disagreed, saying the HSBC deal could only be seen as positive in its creation of opportunity for bank employees.

She said besides giving staff members greater training and education opportunities, there could also be increased access to jobs with HSBC having a worldwide network spanning 79 countries.

As for job cuts ? with the bank saying there could be up to 250 redundancies made over the next three years ? the employee said she believed management?s position that many of the cuts could be accomplished through natural attrition.

The bank has said that in 2002 its attrition rate stood at 10.74 percent for its Bermuda operations ? which breaks down to more than 120 people based on the bank?s current staffing of 1,184 locally. She also cited executive bonus and options as the norm in today?s banking marketplace, but that it was not something that people were accustomed to in Bermuda. ?The biggest problem is that it is very difficult for those who have not worked in another environment, but when they (management) say this (the various terms of the sale) is commonplace, that is absolutely true.?

She added that the option plan for executives, which is also available to employees throughout the bank, had been in place a long time.

?In years past it became common to receive stock options and the practice of giving options to employees became widespread,? she said, especially as a way of rewarding good job performance.

She added that depending on the vesting schedule for those options, and said she was speaking in general terms and not specifically about the bank, the holders could eventually make from $1 to $100 in profit.

?Part of it is the luck of the draw,? she said, and concluded that she did not see the money that could be made off options as an issue. ?I am not upset at all. In reality, it is business as usual and exactly as the executives have said, it is that our way of life is changing.

?There is nostalgia, a lot of people do not like things to change but it will also open doors, especially for young employees. I see all of the good things that can come from this. I see it as a huge opportunity to catch the kite and fly on its coat tails,? she said, adding that the changes were inevitable, whether under HSBC or another bank, after the Ministry of Finance announced its intent to open up the local financial services sector to foreign banks.

However, another staff member said there was a high level of unhappiness about the sale from bank employees but said they were not asking difficult questions at staff meetings as they were afraid that their jobs ? with it having been already announced that up to 250 redundancies could be made in the next three years ? could be on the line if they criticised management.