The British government’s push for banks to be more forthcoming about top earners’ pay is meant to shame them into being more circumspect about compensation. Paradoxically, the 2010 comp figures being released under the disclosure rules show that top U.K.-based bankers earn significantly less than their foreign counterparts, especially in Asian markets.
HSBC awarded an elite group of 186 London-based “code staff” (that is, top traders, bankers and other nonsenior managers) an average of $1.22 million in salary and bonuses for 2010. By contrast, the bank typically paid members of an equivalent coterie of 280 star staffers outside the U.K. $1.6 million. HSBC is not unique in being extra generous to its Asia-based employees. Thomson Reuters confirms that the trend is widespread.
HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver was asked point-blank by a reporter: “Why do you pay people in the U.K. less? Is it because the market is hotter in Asia?” Gulliver’s response: “[Asian] economies are growing at a rapid pace, and that is where the pressure is on compensation.”
It’s no wonder that U.K.-based bankers, feeling unloved and underpaid as well as overtaxed, migrate eastward. Christian Brun, a Hong Kong–based partner of recruiter Wellesley Partners, says he’s been steadily receiving CVs from bankers in London and New York seeking work in Asia. The catch? Unless a banker has relevant expertise — say, in Hong Kong IPOs (see page 36) — it can be tough to find a job in Asia.
