Bank chiefs’ pay in 2013

Top bankers examined for the Financial Times’ annual research of bank chief executive pay have been rewarded more generously in 2013, making good for a drop in the previous year and bringing pay back above 2011 levels.

Average chief executive pay at 15 leading US and European banks increased 10.1 per cent last year to $13m, according to data compiled exclusively for the FT by Equilar, the executive pay research firm.

It came against a backdrop of rising net income and a continued share price recovery at the same time as banks were forced to absorb the impact of tighter regulation and a string of legal scandals and fines.

The rise was driven by a leap at US banks that has opened up a clear gulf to their lower-paid European counterparts, where a new breed of less generously rewarded bankers has taken over the helm in recent years.

Explore the bank chief executives and their pay in this interactive graphic.

Methodology: For each CEO, 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.