Armstrong sued SCA after it delayed his 2005 bonus payment and raised questions about allegations involving his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

CNN: February 7, 2013 -- Updated 1619 GMT (0019 HKT)

Also pressuring the market are expectations that funding conditions in China's short-term money market will get tighter toward the end of the year, when demand for cash typically surges for gift purchases and bonus payment, analysts said.

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Those staff who delivered outstanding performances were entitled to a bonus payment by virtue of the terms and conditions of their home department.

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Lawyers were also trying to change the nature of the payment and re-characterize it as a bonus for negotiating the merger between AMR Corp. and U.S. Airways.

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They used credit cards, but they kept the balances low and would pay them off every time Dan got a bonus payment of a few thousand dollars.

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The ring-fence structure makes a distinction between the bits of banking that need saving (deposit-taking banks, payment systems and the like) and the bits that do not (bonus-gorging investment bankers).

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