After recording record profits last year, Spain's Santander raised bonuses for investment bankers.
According to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named, the bank's corporate and investment banking department's variable pay increased by an average of 10%. The bank's spokesperson declined to comment.
Santander previously promoted the expansion of its investment banking business in the US. Last year, it hired dozens of bankers to handle matchmaking and transactions, a large part of which came from Credit Suisse, which was urgently taken over by UBS Group.
Santander announced that in 2023, attributable profit reached 11.1 billion euros, the highest level on record. The bank praised the strong performance of the US Department of Corporate and Investment Banking in its January results presentation.
This salary increase shows the difference between Santander and other large European competitors. Deutsche Bank, UBS Group, and Société Générale all expect to reduce the prize pool because last year was challenging for the transaction matching business. In contrast, people familiar with the matter claim that Yushin Bank increased its prize pool by about 16%.