10 April 2018

The EBA observes a decrease in high earners in 2016 and differences in remuneration practices across the EU

The EBA published its report on benchmarking of remuneration practices in EU banks for the financial years 2015 and 2016 and high earners data for 2016. The data shows that in 2016, the number of high earners in EU banks receiving a remuneration of more than EUR 1 million decreased by 10.6%.

The lower number of high earners, receiving remuneration of more than EUR 1 million, was mainly driven by changes in the exchange rate between EUR and GBP, which led to a reduction of staff income paid in GBP when expressed in EUR.

The number of individuals whose professional activities have a material impact on an institution's risk profile (‘identified staff') and who are identified in accordance with the criteria set out in the EBA's regulatory technical standards (RTS) on identified staff, decreased significantly from 67 802 in 2015 to 53 382 in 2016 (-21.3%). In 2016, only 2.00% of staff in institutions were ‘identified staff', which is a significant decrease compared to 2.42% in 2015. The EBA will look into the identification process when reviewing the application of the RTS on identified staff.

Overall, the Report observes that following the introduction of a limitation of the ratio between the variable and the fixed remuneration to 100% (200% with shareholders' approval, where implemented by the Member State), the average effective ratio between the variable and fixed component for all identified staff continued to decrease to 57.1% in 2016 (2015: 62.2% and 2014: 65.5%).

In many institutions, the variable remuneration for all staff is lower than the amount distributed to shareholders. However, some institutions paid out larger amounts of variable remuneration despite the fact that only a relatively low amount was distributed to shareholders.

As in previous years, the Report shows that remuneration practices within institutions were not sufficiently harmonised. In particular, the application of deferral and pay out in instruments differed significantly across Member States and institutions.

Press release

Full report

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