WORLD
UBS looks to put cap on banker bonuses
Baku, September 13 (AZERTAC). UBS is looking at capping bankers` bonuses as the Swiss bank joins its European peers in cracking down on remuneration schemes following regulatory and investor pressure.
Switzerland`s largest bank by assets is considering a range of options including putting a lid on executives` bonuses either in relation to fixed salary or the bank`s net profit, increasing the time for deferred pay to five years and aligning its absolute remuneration level with the average of a peer group.
The ideas for wide-ranging reforms will be debated at board level in the next few months and a final plan will be presented to key investors several months ahead of the annual meeting next May, people familiar with the discussions said.
Deutsche Bank this week said it would pay its top 150 managers their deferred share bonuses only after five years – instead of the common practice of staggering it over three years – and is setting up an independent panel to review pay practices.
UBS`s board received a warning shot at its last annual meeting in
At UBS the most pronounced cuts came at the bank`s struggling investment bank, which in the fourth quarter reported a loss. The bonus pool was curtailed by 60%. Besides extremely slow trading activity the bonus cut was also due to a trading scandal that cost UBS $2.3 billion in losses.
Due to the affair that is currently being handled by a London court, investment banking head Carsten Kengeter, who in 2010 was the bank`s top executive earner with a compensation package worth around CHF9.32 million, offered to give up his bonus and received only a base salary worth around CHF1.5 million, UBS said.