UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti earns CHF 14.4 million for nine months.
Published: Thursday, Mar 28th 2024, 08:11
Updated At: Thursday, Mar 28th 2024, 09:00
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UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti has received a substantial pay rise on his return to the big bank. He earned 14.4 million francs for nine months in 2023.
Ermotti took over on April 1, 2023 to lead the integration of the acquired Credit Suisse. His predecessor Ralph Hamers, who handed over to Ermotti at the end of March, earned CHF 12.6 million as CEO of the big bank in the whole of 2022.
Of the 14.4 million for Ermotti, 2.1 million made up the fixed salary and 12.3 million the variable part of the salary, according to the annual report published on Thursday. UBS referred to the latter as a performance bonus.
Larger Group Management due to takeover
A total of CHF 140.3 million was paid out to the entire Executive Board of Switzerland's largest bank in 2023, compared to CHF 106.9 million in the previous year. Of this, CHF 108.3 million was attributable to performance bonuses, compared to CHF 81.1 million in 2022.
The increase reflects the adjusted composition of the Group Executive Board to support the CS integration, including 4 additional Group Executive Board members, UBS explained. At the end of 2023, the Group Executive Board had 15 members.
"The remuneration structure for all employees, including the Group Executive Board, remained largely unchanged despite the takeover of Credit Suisse in 2023," UBS stated. The financial effects of the CS takeover were not taken into account, neither the positive nor the negative ones.
Board of Directors with more tasks too
Colm Kelleher, who has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS since April 2022, will receive CHF 4.7 million for his second year until the next Annual General Meeting on April 24. In the first year it was 4.8 million.
The entire Board of Directors, consisting of twelve members, earned 15.2 million in 2023, including subsidiary fees, which was significantly more than the 12.6 million earned in 2022.
Following the acquisition of Credit Suisse, the roles of certain members of the Board of Directors were expanded in 2023 to take on additional responsibilities on the boards of important subsidiaries, it was reported. These appointments are important for strong oversight of the subsidiaries in line with UBS Group's governance principles. It also facilitates the integration of the CS units into UBS.
Loyalty bonuses due to uncertainty
In addition, retention awards were also paid in 2023. These are payments made to employees to retain them at the company. These are common in the event of a takeover in order to retain important key positions.
Overall, retention awards of 736 million are rather low compared to the industry for an integration of this size, UBS wrote. According to the bank, they accounted for 3 percent of total personnel costs in 2023.
Meanwhile, there is no separate remuneration report for the subsidiary Credit Suisse AG. This is now part of the UBS Group. Subsidiaries are not obliged to report separately, it was stated.
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