The Swiss bank is reportedly planning to lift bonuses for its investment bankers in Asia. The move represents a bouncing back from last year's austere round of payouts.
Zurich-based UBS will pay its investment bankers in Asia 6 percent more overall than last year, «Bloomberg» reported on Monday. The higher pool reflects a partial recovery from last year's bonus round, when UBS let go investment bankers and Hong Kong and Singapore and slashed the pool by 15 percent amid a drop in business.
Like in the U.S., UBS' youngest staffers are set to do best: the bank is lifting the bonus pool for so-called junior bankers by 12 percent. Among the juniors, Chinese bankers have been promised raises of as much as 20 percent in order to prevent them from defecting to industry rivals like big corporates or private equity firms.
China and Australia underpinned UBS' rude health last year, when the bank recorded 1.165 billion Swiss francs in profit and pledged to buy back its own shares. The bank lost several notable China bankers last year, including Jiang Guorong, who defected for Citi. UBS also hired Hong Kong-based banker Catherine Cai, from Citi, in a wider role, as part of a planned bulk-up in China.
