Deutsche Bank discovers how to get paid more at Credit Suisse

If you've been put off working for Credit Suisse by last week's Wall Street Journal revelations of chaos in the fixed income division, or by CEO Tidjane Thiam's admonition that everyone must stay calm as the share price plummets, Deutsche's banking analysts might yet persuade you to change your mind.

Late last week, Deutsche's banking analysts produced a report on Credit Suisse which underscores the extent to which - if it values you - the Swiss bank is actually a rather good payer.

If Credit Suisse really wants to hire or to keep you, Deutsche notes that it will give you a generous "special award" to get you onside. In 2015, Credit Suisse splashed out CHF150m ($158m) in such payments to hire and retain key staff.

To put this in context, special awards at Deutsche and UBS last year totaled just €1m ($1.2m) and CHF2m ($2.1m) respectively.

If you work for Credit Suisse, the special awards are a handy palliative. Pay at the investment bank is almost certainly going to be slashed this year as part of an "accelerated restructuring," under which costs are being cut by additional CHF800m following the bank's big trading losses in the first quarter. In 2015, Credit Suisse cut the global markets bonus pool by 36%, but hiked salaries so that overall pay per head in the division fell by just 6%.  

So, if Credit Suisse tries to cut your pay? Deutsche Bank's revelations suggest all you need to do is threaten to leave. If the recent past is anything to go by, you'll then receive a generous inducement to stick around.

Photo credit: Throwing Tantrum by Angelina Koh is licensed under CC BY 2.0.