The number of European bankers who earn more than a million a year has increased. Most of them don’t however make quite as much as the Swiss top earners.
Once a year, the European Banking Authority (EBA) is shedding some light on just how much the best-earning bankers within its jurisdiction are taking home. The report by the EBA however only covers those earning more than one million euros ($1.13 million) a year and the names are not to be revealed, according to Directive 2013/36/EU.
The numbers nevertheless indicate how wages are developing in the industry, which is under increasing pressure economically. The wages of top bankers, the risk takers, haven’t suffered as a consequence, or so it seems. The number of bankers taking home more than a million euros a year increased almost 6 percent to 4,859 in 2017, from 4,597 in 2016.
Investment Banking Paradise
The numbers also reveal which segment is doing better than others (see table below). In investment banking, 2,541 people earned more than a million euros in 2017. And there, the bankers also benefited from the most handsome bonuses, while in other segments of the industry fixed remunerations are gradually replacing the variable part of pay.
In asset management, some 510 people received more than a million, while retail banking counted 194 income millionaires – despite the prevalence of this segment within the industry. Executives in general are still top earners – with 861 taking home more than a million.
Sergio Ermotti – Well Placed
The average income of the euro-bank-manager – 2.3 million euros a year – isn’t quite at the level of the Swiss top executives. Sergio Ermotti, the UBS CEO, received a total remuneration of 14.2 million francs in 2017. His salary for 2018 will be revealed on Friday with the publication of the annual report of the bank.
Tidjane Thiam at Credit Suisse had 9.7 million to his name in 2017. The second-biggest Swiss bank reports the wages of the executive on March 22.
A British Record
There are those who earn more than Ermotti and Thiam – even if the EBA report keeps the names under wraps.
In Austria, one bank manager received 16,118,174 euros in 2017. In Spain, one colleague of his took 13,046,689 euros. In the U.K., ten bankers earned more than 10 million euros that year, with one asset manager making a whopping 40,917,023 euros.
