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The bankruptcy of the former model bank Credit Suisse caused a stir in the spring. These leaked far beyond the parade ground. The call for stricter regulation of systemically important banks was once again heard nationwide.
One of those banks is the Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), the largest cantonal bank in Switzerland. According to the “Zürichsee-Zeitung”, the pressure from society and politics seems to lead to the first changes.
The sometimes staggering bonuses given to ZKB’s management led to the bank being targeted by the Zurich cantonal council.
In parliament there was talk of “excess wages” and “robbery of national wealth”. There was even a cap on the CEO salary of Urs Baumann (55). The bank managed to prevent this, but the cantonal administration made it unmistakably clear that the excessive bonus culture would no longer be tolerated.
Last year, ZKB again increased the total amount for the so-called variable remuneration by CHF 54 million to a total of CHF 349 million. This thanks to a record profit of over a billion.
A total of 5,000 employees took advantage of these ‘profit-sharing schemes’, as the ZKB calls it. This corresponds to an average bonus of CHF 70,000 per employee. This means that the variable part of the total remuneration is no less than 38 percent. Politicians think it’s too much.
Because ZKB is wholly owned by the canton of Zurich, the bank council has to deal with such uncomfortable questions from politicians, says Mario Senn (39), cantonal councilor for the FDP. The ZKB has now responded in writing to eight parliamentary questions.
In its reply, the board of the ZKB defended the “conservative wage policy” of its institute. Total compensation is in line with the industry average. However, the fixed salary is quite low – which is compensated by a high variable remuneration.
But that should now change. Although Bankrat president Jörg Müller-Ganz (62) will not answer all questions in detail, he promises to go through the books with the bonuses. The remuneration model is currently being tested by external experts.
Mario Senn is only moderately satisfied with the ZKB’s answers. He does, however, welcome any adjustments to the bonus structures. (sq)
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
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