Britain: JPMorgan, Goldman Sach highest paying banks in 2016

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs paid their top bankers in Britain an average of $1.5 million each in 2016, compared with $1 million for local rivals HSBC and Barclays, data released by the banks last year shows.
Data compiled by Reuters from 13 banks’ filings, some of which were released only late last month, shows they paid an average of $1.06 million to such staff in 2016, down from $2 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2013 when new European Union rules aimed at curbing banker bonuses took effect.
The Wall Street banks’ higher pay packages show how they have bounced back more quickly from the financial crisis than their peers in Britain, some of which have faced hefty post-crisis costs that have limited banker pay.
The data also shows that EU rules to rein in banker bonuses, blamed for driving excessive risk-taking in the run up to the 2008 crisis, are having an impact.
JPMorgan paid 672 staff in senior or risk-taking positions a total of $1.02 billion in 2016 for an average of $1.52 million each, while 724 Goldman bankers took home an average of $1.48 million each, according to Reuters’ calculations from the filings.
The disclosures are among the most comprehensive released on bankers’ pay in Britain, which remains a controversial subject ten years on from the financial crisis.
A report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development released on Thursday showed that a median worker salary in Britain is about $38,493. In contrast, the average pay of a senior banker in 2016 was $1.06 million.
The report highlighted that the average boss of one of Britain’s top companies will by Thursday have already earned the same as the typical worker will make in the entire year.
The banks’ pay disclosures make no mention of gender pay gaps, but banks in Britain may have to begin reporting such data after the government last April announced employers would have to disclose the difference between what they pay men and women by April 2018.

Source: Reuters

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