CEOs of UK banks paid 120 times more than an average employee

LONDON (Reuters) – According to banking documents, top leaders of Britain's biggest banks are on average 120 times more paid than the median salary of their British employees, according to a new rule that looks more closely at the pay gap between large and small firms. companies of the country.

The largest UK lender, Lloyds Banking Group, has the largest difference in pay. Antonio Horta-Osorio, chairman of the board of directors, the most generous boss of the sector in 2018, earns 169 times more than the median salary of 37,058 pounds sterling (48,164 dollars), reported last Wednesday.

The Gulf expanded 237 times over the lowest salary quartile in Lloyds, receiving an average salary of 26,490 pounds in 2018, compared with 6.3 million pounds brought home by Horta-Osorio .

Banks provided the most recent information from the last two weeks, along with the annual results, before the coming into force next year, new reporting requirements that require companies to set the ratio. CEO compensation to an average UK employee and employees in the lower and upper salary quartiles.

The HSBC banking giant had the largest wage disparity, with new managing director John Flint pocketing £ 4.6m last year, 118 times more than his median paid employee in Britain.

"HSBC's Salary Strategy is designed to accurately reflect the role, responsibilities, and skills of the individual and to be competitive so that we can attract and retain people with the right skills for each role," said a senior executive. spokesperson of the bank. .

Median salary ratios of employees between rival FTSE 100 lenders Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays were not far behind at 97: 1 and 96: 1 respectively.

Barclays, Lloyds and RBS declined to comment.

Wage disparities have been examined more closely in Great Britain in recent years, with separate requirements for reporting on the gender pay gap, which highlights large disparities between men and women, in particular in the United Kingdom. particularly in the financial sector.

The report on the salary report comes when the City of London Corporation, which runs the financial district of London, launched Monday a campaign against low wages in financial companies. The organization is urging companies to pay at least London Living's base salary at 10.55 pounds ($ 13.73) per hour.

"One in five people employed in the capital do not earn a salary they can live on. I ask city businesses to help record these statistics in the history books, "said Catherine McGuinness, the city's policy director.

In his annual report, Mr. Lloyds indicated that he would pay all his full-time employees a minimum wage of £ 17,500 as of next April, which would represent an increase of up to 9.9% for some of his employees. colleagues.

Lloyds said the salary was 7% higher than the national living wage, but did not refer to the higher living wage in London.

There are still significant wage gaps in spite of the four banks that have been relatively restrained last year, with the salaries of the four chiefs being broadly stable or at least stable. down from the previous year.

Horta-Osorio's salary was down 6.4 million pounds in 2017, while Flint was receiving less than the 6.1 million pounds of his predecessor Stuart Gulliver.

RBS boss Ross McEwan won 3.6 million pounds, while Barclays head chef Stales Staley was the lowest paid after winning 3.4 million pounds against 3.9 million pounds.