Executive Pay: Credit Suisse vs UBS

Credit Suisse doesn't pay its CEO more, but better than UBS. finews.com crunches the numbers on how important their respective stock performance will be for Sergio Ermotti and Tidjane Thiam.

1. Credit Suisse and Thiam Beat UBS and Ermotti

In effective numbers, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti is the silverback: his 14.1 million Swiss francs ($14.2 million) beat the 12.7 million that Credit Suisse paid CEO Tidjane Thiam. But the comparison doesn't reflect the respective size of Switzerland's two largest banks.

UBS is bigger on market capitalization, revenue, and headcount than Credit Suisse, which is roughly one-third the larger bank's size. But Thiam's overall paycheck is «only» 12 percent lower than what Ermotti paid UBS.

Credit Suisse's top management is even better paid: the 12-person body earned 93.5 million francs in total, while the 99.6 million francs UBS paid its 13 top executives is only marginally more. In short: Credit Suisse pays better than UBS based on the size of each firm.

2. Chairmen Tally Up

The picture is similar at chairman level: UBS overseer Axel Weber earned 6 million francs last year. More than half – 3.5 million francs – was in base salary, bonus, and pension payments. Over at Credit Suisse, Chairman Urs Rohner took home 4.7 million francs – the bulk in base salary. Both men received stock: Weber 2.2 million francs worth, and Rohner 1.5 million francs. Weber and Rohner also notched up perfect (in Weber’s case) or near-perfect (in Rohner’s case) attendance at board meetings last year.

3. More Cash for Tidjane Thiam

While Ermotti beat Thiam on total pay, Thiam is receiving a larger portion of deferred pay. But the Credit Suisse CEO has an advantage in base salary: Thiam's 3 million francs compare with the Ticino-born Ermotti's 2.5 million, which is unchanged since he became CEO in 2011. 

Their effective, or so-called realized, pay last year is dramatically different: Ermotti pocketed 11.9 million francs after instruments from 2012 matured. Thiam took home less than half that: 5.82 million francs.