UBS kept lid on CEO Ermotti's pay in 2024 amid regulation tussle

Ariane Luthi

Sun, Mar 16, 2025, 11:19 PM 2 min read

By Ariane Luthi

ZURICH (Reuters) -UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti's full wage was 14.9 cardinal Swiss francs ($16.9 million) past year, with the slope keeping his remuneration successful cheque arsenic it navigates a tense governmental statement astir however it is regulated.

That compares with the 14.4 cardinal francs for 9 months' enactment successful 2023 erstwhile Ermotti returned to UBS to oversee the integration of Credit Suisse. Even with the shortened enactment year, that made him past the best-paid brag among starring European banks.

Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter publically questioned whether that sum was appropriate, fueling friction betwixt the slope and the authorities arsenic the regulatory statement intensified.

Last year, Ermotti's basal wage remained stable, portion his adaptable compensation fell to 12.1 cardinal francs from 12.25 cardinal francs successful 2023, the slope said successful its yearly report.

His full compensation was little than that of David Layton, the CEO of Swiss backstage equity steadfast Partners Group, who received astir 17 cardinal francs past year.

UBS bought its erstwhile rival Credit Suisse for conscionable 3 cardinal francs successful a state-engineered woody aft the once-powerful instauration fell isolated successful a welter of scandals.

The UBS that emerged from the takeover has a equilibrium expanse bigger than the Swiss economy, stirring interest astir what would hap if the enlarged slope failed, and starring to calls to gully up tougher regulations to forestall different meltdown.

Central to that is however overmuch further superior UBS should hold, and successful the yearly study the slope criticized what it called an "often ill-informed nationalist debate" successful Switzerland astir imaginable risks stemming from its concern activities.

The Swiss precocious location of parliament backed a question this period to headdress bankers' wage astatine betwixt 3 and 5 cardinal francs ($3.4 million-$5.7 million).

UBS said that full fixed and adaptable compensation for its enforcement committee successful 2024 was 143.6 cardinal francs, up from 140.3 cardinal francs a twelvemonth earlier.

The group-wide bonus excavation stood astatine $4.7 cardinal past twelvemonth compared with $4.5 cardinal successful 2023.

($1 = 0.8837 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Ariane Luthi; Editing by Dave Graham and Edwina Gibbs)