Forty Irish bankers took home €1 million or more in earnings in 2013, according to figures from the European Banking Authority (EBA).

In its annual update on earnings, the EBA said that of the 40 big earners in Irish banking, 13 were involved in asset management, 12 in investment banking and five in retail banking.

The number of bankers earning €1 million a year or more in the EU, however, has started to fall even before the impact of a cap on bonus payments is fully felt, according to the EBA figures.

There were 3,178 bankers in the EU on at least €1 million a year, including bonuses, in 2013, down from 3,530 a year earlier, although that was partly due to exchange rates as two-thirds are based in London.

It said its next set of figures for 2014, due to be published at the end of this year, would show a drop in the average ratio of bonuses to fixed pay, highlighting the “full impact” of the bloc’s new bonus cap.

Bankers’ pay has faced curbs on how it can be structured since lenders had to be rescued by taxpayers during the 2007-09 financial crisis, sparking public anger.

The cap, which will affect bonuses awarded from last year, limits a bonus to no more than basic pay or twice that amount with shareholder approval.

Bonuses

In 2013, the average ratio of bonuses to fixed pay was 104.27 per cent, the EBA said – meaning bonuses were only slightly more than basic pay – for so-called identified staff or the high earners who are in key roles and come under tougher scrutiny.

That represents a fall from 108.74 per cent in 2012 and 204.76 per cent in 2010, but for some lenders the ratio was still 200 per cent or more. The EBA’s report did not give a breakdown of banks’ individual pay deals.

The cap will force many banks to restructure the pay packets of their top bankers.

Some lenders had tried to soften the impact of the bonus cap by lifting basic pay through paying additional “allowances”, a step the EBA has ruled as being largely contrary to EU law. – (Reuters)