21 workers in financial services earned €1m-plus

A total of 21 people working in the financial services sector, earned over €1m in 2011, according to the latest figures from the European Banking Authority.

The backdated figures, published yesterday, detail the number of so-called high-earning bankers within EU member states during 2010 and 2011. The figure for Ireland didn’t change year-on-year, but the composition of earners did, slightly.

In 2011, 14 of the 21 high-earners worked in the area of investment banking — one fewer than the previous year — with three in asset management and four in “other business areas”.

None of the €1m-plus earners were located in the area of retail banking, where one was in 2010.

Britain had by far the highest number of highly paid finance workers, with 2,436 counted in 2011 — down by nearly 100 from the previous year.

The numbers from the UK beat the rest of the EU combined. By comparison, Germany had 170 bankers earning more than €1m in 2011; France had 162; Spain 125; and Italy 96 people.

All these totals represented some level of decline on 2010 levels.

The report — which also includes remuneration paid by subsidiaries of EU parent institutions based in another member state — marks the first time such figures have been published and form part of member states’ obligations to record pay details of those working in its financial services sector.

The European Banking Authority is set to apply an EU-wide cap on bankers’ pay by next year. It wants to see a basic salary threshold of €500,000, with bonuses coming in at no higher than fixed pay, or twice fixed pay according to shareholder approval.

“The EBA will publish, at the end of the year, a more detailed report on an analysis of remuneration practices in the EU; this will be based on a remuneration benchmarking exercise which will also comprise a more detailed analysis of the data presented today,” the authority said in a statement accompanying the report.