Deutsche Bank said to significantly hike salaries for some VPs in London
Fresh from paying some not-exactly-great bonuses, headhunters say Deutsche has hiked the salaries for some VPs in its fixed income sales and trading business in London.
Speaking off the record, one headhunter who focuses on fixed income sales and trading hires said he's spoke to two Deutsche VP level traders who had their salaries increased from around £100k to around £140k at the time disappointing bonuses were announced.
"They were told that the totality of their compensation would stay the same but their cash flow would improve," he said. "Their bonuses weren't quite as disastrous as expected and they've had this salary rise."
Deutsche declined to comment on the salary claims. John Cryan, Deutsche CEO, said in January that the bank would be putting a "new compensation framework" into place in which salaries would be higher and bonuses lower. However, the new framework was supposed to apply to bonuses for 2016.
Another fixed income headhunter, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said most banks in London have been selectively hiking fixed pay as the new EU pay rules restricting bonuses to 200% of salaries come into affect. "MDs at some banks have had big increases and are now on £750k," he said.
At Deutsche Bank, higher salaries are likely to be particularly welcome. Bloomberg reported last week that the German bank is deferring around 75% of all bonuses valued between €200k to €500k for four years, with 25% paid annually. Higher salaries mean employees will simply receive cash instead.
Generous as they are, Deutsche's alleged salary hikes for VPs look at little overdue. Most banks in London increased VP salaries to between £120k and £175k last June. Deutsche has a history of being behind the market on pay rises - it increased salaries for analysts and associates in London last April, several months after US rivals did the same.
