The number of income millionaires in European banks at the end of 2021 was higher than at any time since statistics began.

This was announced by the EU banking supervisory authority EBA on Thursday.

According to their remuneration report, in 2021 the number of bank employees who earned more than one million euros increased by 41.5 percent to 1957.

Markus Fruehauf

Editor in Business.

  • Follow I follow

When the EBA first reported on the top earners in the European banking industry in 2010, there were still 902 income millionaires.

In principle, the figures for the top earners are only reported by the EU supervisor on a country basis, but not for individual institutions.

Their figures can be found in the respective annual reports.

Increase also thanks to Brexit

The EBA attributes the high increase in 2021 to the good business development of the banks, especially in capital market-related investment banking, and to staff relocations from Great Britain to continental Europe.

The financial center of London is no longer included in the remuneration report following the UK's exit from the EU.

However, there are by far the most income millionaires in Great Britain.

These were last recorded in the 2019 remuneration report with around 3500.

The German banks now take first place in the EBA ranking list with 589 top earners.

Compared to 2020, this is an increase of 46 or 8.5 percent.

This means that the number has increased much more slowly than the EU average.

According to the EBA, France, Italy and Spain account for 70 percent of the EU-wide increase.

Decrease in Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank has by far the most income millionaires.

The employees with an annual income of more than one million euros were reported as 520 in the annual report for 2021.

The number has even dropped by 94 compared to 2020.

Deutsche Bank attributed the decline to a lower number of retention bonuses and severance payments granted.

The fact that Deutsche Bank has by far the most top earners among the EU banks is due to the importance of London as a location, where most of the investment banking activities are concentrated.

In the Landesbanken, which are part of the savings banks group, the figures read much more modestly.

In 2021, Bayern LB had 17 income millionaires after ten in 2020. In Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) there were eight, which corresponds to an increase of two people.

Helaba reported seven remuneration millionaires, one more than in 2020. At Nord LB, one employee remained in this group of people.

Highest salary 14.7 million euros

The main reason for the increase in the Landesbanks is the company pension scheme.

Without this, only one person at Bayern LB would have exceeded the one million euro mark in 2021.

Commerzbank had 13 income millionaires and DZ Bank, the central institute of the Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken, had twelve.

According to the EBA, 481 employees of German institutes earned between one and two million euros.

64 came to two to three million, 14 to three to four million, eight to four to five million, five to five to six million, six to six to seven million and seven to seven to eight million euros.

A bank manager earned between eight and nine million euros.

Two others received between nine and ten million euros.

The sole top earner was paid between 13 and 14 million euros in 2021.

The best-paid banker is in Spain, at €14.7 million, which EBA says is largely due to severance payments.

With 749, investment bankers lead the group of income millionaires.