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Investment banks still have a long way to go to close the pay gap between men and women in the City of London, a flurry of last-minute disclosures show. How are Asian lenders faring?

The news from J.P. Morgan last week shocked women in the City: the U.S. bank's female bankers earn 36 percent less fixed pay that their male colleagues take home, and just over one-third of the bonus value. 

Women have long found the air thin in the male-dominated banking industry, but what about banks in Asia, where women such as Hang Seng boss Louisa Cheang Wai-wan have held top roles.

Women working for Nomura in the U.K. earn about 49 percent less on average than their male colleagues, and their bonuses are 75 percent lower, according to data filed with the British government. At Mizuho, the gap is 35 percent for fixed pay, and 58 percent for bonuses in April 2017, the timestamp on the disclosures.

Bigger Gulf

The numbers represent the first hard facts from across one of the world’s biggest finance hubs. U.S. and U.K. rivals reported similar gaps under new regulations for companies with at least 250 employees in Britain. Businesses from Nestle to Royal Dutch Shell have until April 4 to report the difference between what women and men earn. 

Standard Chartered provided figures for other regions where it does business and in many cases the gulf was even bigger. Female employees earn 33 percent less than men in Hong Kong and 39 percent less in Singapore, compared with 30 percent in the U.K.