LONDON – The number of bankers and traders in the European Union earning more than €1 million ($1.1 million) rose to a record in 2021 as securities firms took in bumper revenue and investment banks relocated staff to the bloc after Brexit, the bloc’s banking watchdog said.
The number of such “high earners” surged 42 per cent from the previous year to 1,957, the European Banking Authority said in a statement in Paris.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) said the number of bankers earning over a million euros ($1.08 million) rose to 1,957 in 2021 from 1,383 in 2020, up 41.5 per cent to reach the highest level since the watchdog began collecting such data in 2010.
Over 70 per cent of the increase is attributed to bankers in Italy, France and Spain, with the impact of inflation lifting earnings also playing a role, EBA said.
Ahead of Britain’s departure from the EU, many banks that had used London as a base for serving the bloc had to open new units in EU states, such as Germany, France and Ireland, or expand existing ones to avoid disruption to customer services.
“This increase is linked to the overall good performance of institutions, in particular in the area of investment banking and trading and sales, continuing relocations of staff from the UK to the EU and a general increase in salaries,” EBA said in a statement according to Reuters.
The European Central Bank has been putting pressure on these units to be sufficiently staffed.
Germany still has most top earning bankers, with 589, followed by France with 371 and Italy 351.
Most high earners – 1,516 – received remuneration within the payment bracket from 1 million to 2 million euros, with the highest payment bracket ranging from 14 million to 15 million euros, EBA said.
($1 = 0.9245 euros)
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