ZURICH — Credit Suisse’s Brady Dougan took one of the biggest hits in his 2011 paycheck of any chief executive at a major global bank, the company’s annual report showed Friday.
Dougan’s compensation more than halved, to 5.8 million Swiss francs ($6.3 million) from 12.8 million francs a year earlier. Like all of Credit Suisse’s top managers, he did not get a cash bonus. While Dougan’s base salary remained unchanged, his bonus, awarded in the form of deferred stocks, fell 69 percent to reflect the sharp drop in profits last year and the 41 percent drop in Credit Suisse’s share price in 2011.
The bank’s overall bonus pool also fell last year, as pressure on banks to keep compensation high to retain top talent abated recently, with most big institutions slashing bonuses this year. The cuts are also a result of criticism in the public sphere over remuneration for bankers.
At Credit Suisse, bonuses fell 41 percent across the group, but total compensation declined only 18 percent as the bank paid higher fixed salaries to retain staff. The decline in the bonus pool was on par with Swiss peer UBS, which was hit by a rogue-trading scandal that cost the bank more than $2 billion last year.
In the US, Wall Street cash bonuses likely fell 14 percent for 2011. New York securities firms are set to pay employees $19.7 billion in cash bonuses, down from $22.8 billion in 2010, according to a report by New York state’s comptroller.
In many European countries, political tension has mounted over how to address discontent over pay. Swiss voters will decide later this year on an initiative that aims at restricting excessive salaries. If accepted, top management salaries will need to win shareholders’ approval at a yearly vote on pay.