The board has suspended its dividend payment to shareholders, for the first time in decades.
In most countries interest payments are tax-deductible but dividend payments are not.
High dividend payments have been a ray of light for shareholders: On average, the big Banks pay out almost a third of their earnings, for an average dividend yield of about 4.7%.
Although the rules expressly prohibited using the funds for dividend payments or stock buybacks, subsequent analysis has shown participants sent most of it to shareholders anyway.
These figures are based on the number of shares the executives own and estimates from the Banks about the percentage of earnings they plan to earmark for dividend payments.
