Mr Clarke had earned Nomura considerable sums, so a discretionary bonus ought to be paid. The lesson to be learnt here is discretionary bonuses are dangerous. It doesn't matter why you leave, you simply lose the bonus. The chances are, however, that this will not work when one is negotiating bonuses with a chief executive or managing director. The key issue as we see it is what happens to accrual during a bonus period on termination.
Common ground is to distinguish between a good leaver and a bad leaver.
A good leaver is perhaps someone who leaves by reason of injury, while a bad leaver is someone who leaves by reason of misconduct or perhaps leaves to join a competitor. One can think through a number of permutations. An interesting argument on death arose the other day. The employee argued that if he died, then any part accrual of a bonus ought to accrue to his wife. We argued that this was confusing life assurance and a bonus.