Smart About Risk  
EBA signals an increase of high earners in EU banks

EBA signals an increase of high earners in EU banks

On 2nd February 2017 the European Banking Authority published a Report on high earners based on data for financial year 2015. According to the CRD IV the EBA is required to publish aggregated data on high earners earning EUR 1 million or more per financial year.

The EBA founds out that the number of high earners receiving remuneration of more than EUR 1 million increased from 3 865 in 2014 to 5 142 in 2015 and is mainly driven by changes in the exchange rate between EUR and GBP. The largest population of high earners in the EU is located in the United Kingdom, accounting for 80.4% of the total number of high earners (+41.25% compared to 2014) and most of them are remunerated in GBP. In most of the other Member States, the number of high earners also slightly increased.

The average ratio of variable to fixed remuneration for all high earners increased from 127% in 2014 to 147% in 2015. The ratio largely exceeded the maximum ratio of 200% set out in the CRD IV within asset management, where it reached 468% due to waivers granted in several Member States for this specific business area, although the CRD IV remuneration requirements are to be applied on a consolidated basis.  

10-3-2017