In revealing the SFr11m (£5.5m) mortgage extended to its chairman Marcel Ospel recently, UBS has not been the only European bank gripped by the need to offer shareholders greater transparency.

Deutsche Bank's annual report has for the first time offered an insight into its executives' pensions, with its chief Josef Ackermann sitting on a balance of €3.8m (£3m) at the end of last year. Mr Ackermann joined in 1996 after a lengthy career at Credit Suisse, making for his three decades in banking.