Bankers in Belgium: 26 Earned Over 1 Million Euros in 2022

The number of high earners in the European banking sector increased by 19.7 percent in 2022. 2,342 bankers had an annual income of more than 1 million euros. This is evident from the mandatory annual record by the European Banking Authority (EBA). This is the first time that more than two thousand high earners in banking have been counted. For comparison: in 2012 there were 816.

In Belgium, the number of high earners is relatively low. There were 26, with 17 at banks and 9 at investment institutions. One Belgian investment banker has earned 4,209,074 euros, the figures show. For comparison: in the Netherlands there were 189 high earners, in Denmark 52, and in Austria 49. Germany takes the cake with 653 high earners. The highest paid German banker earned 11,027,691 euros. In France, one employee of an investment institution earned 30,708,152 euros. The UK banking sector is not included in the figures.

The big earners are not just senior executives and managers. This also applies, for example, to investment bankers, asset managers or those responsible for a specific sector. At investment institutions, the high earners are often people who are paid based on the results obtained.

Variable compensation

The banks and investment institutions are obliged to report the highest earners. The move followed the financial crisis of 2008, when it emerged that bankers had taken reckless risks. This was then linked to the pay policy, which was heavily focused on bonuses and variable pay.

Pay is still very variable. For every 100 euros paid in fixed salary, the top earners received 85 euros in variable compensation. At the deposit centers this was even 489 variable euros per 100 fixed euros. The legal limit on variable compensation no longer applies to these institutions. For traditional banking institutions, the ceiling on variable compensation is set at 100 percent of fixed salary.

At 8 percent, women are overrepresented among high earners in the European banking sector. In Belgium, 2 out of 26 are women, which also amounts to 8 percent. “This reflects the continuing gender imbalance in the financial sector, particularly in the highest paid occupations,” the EBA said.