Seventeen Belgian bankers have wages above 1 million

At the end of 2022, Belgium had 17 high earners among its bankers. They had a salary of more than 1 million euros. The top earner was even good for 4.2 million.

At the end of 2022, Belgium had more high earners in the financial sector than a year earlier. This is evident from figures from the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European regulator for the sector. It has been publishing data on the best-paid bankers and employees of investment firms in Europe for several years. This is a consequence of the banking crisis of more than 15 years ago. Investment firms include proprietary traders and asset managers. The EBA does not release names, only countries.

The latest wage report refers to the figures from the end of 2022. It shows that Belgium has a total of 26 high earners in the financial sector, of whom 17 are bankers and nine are employees of investment firms. That is six more than a year earlier. In the previous overview there was no division between banks or investment firms.

The Belgian wage champion in the sector earned less than in 2021. That last year it was still 4.9 million euros and in 2022 this has dropped to 4.2 million. It is not clear whether it is the same person. In both cases it is an investment banker with a large variable compensation. At the end of 2022, this amounted to more than 2.2 million euros.

Almost all Belgian bankers (14) are in the lowest pay scale in the latest EBA report, between 1 and 2 million euros. The average income in that group was 1.34 million euros at the end of last year. Besides the top earner, there are two more people between 2 and 4 million euros. The average income of the nine employees of investment firms, all traders, was 2.1 million euros, a lot more than that of bankers (1.7 million). The highest-paid trader earned 3.3 million euros.

In the 27 EU countries and three other European states examined together, the EBA counted a total of 2,342 high earners. That is an increase of almost 20 percent compared to a year earlier. The improved performance in the sector and inflation play a role in this. Compared to 2014, this has more than doubled.

The regulator notes that there is still a very large gender imbalance in the financial world. Only 8 percent of high earners are women. Although the EBA does not provide names, it is certain that the CEOs of at least three major banks (BNP Paribas Fortis, KBC and Belfius) are among the top Belgian earners. In 2022, they jointly earned 6.42 million euros gross.