Bank chiefs’ pay in 2012

For the first time in three years, the top managers examined for the Financial Times’ annual research of bank chief executive pay have been awarded less generously.

Average chief executive pay at 15 leading US and European banks fell 10 per cent last year to $11.5m, according to data compiled exclusively for the FT by Equilar, the executive pay research firm.

The drop comes after a series of investor revolts over bankers’ pay and tightened regulatory pressure last year prompted bank boards to rethink executive pay awards.

It has reversed a previous trend that saw the industry’s top managers enjoying two consecutive years of double-digit pay gains.

Explore the bank chief executives and their pay in this interactive graphic and watch Long View columnist John Authers discuss the survey with investment banking correspondent Daniel Schäfer.

Methodology: For each chief executive, Equilar looked at total annual pay including base salary, cash bonuses, the grant-date value of stock and option awards, and certain other benefits.

For companies based in the US, the figures were collected from the summary compensation table of each group’s annual proxy statement. For companies based outside the US, Equilar collected data from the director and management remuneration section of each company’s annual report or the form 20-F filed with the SEC.

All values disclosed in currencies other than US dollars are converted into US dollars using the average daily exchange rate for the fiscal year in which compensation was paid.

Grant-date values for equity awards represent their estimated value. Although companies disclose these values, there is no guarantee that an executive will actually realise the amounts shown. Companies use different methodologies for assessing the grant-date value of equity awards.