The pay of Credit Suisse chief executive Brady Dougan fell by more than half last year to 5.8 million Swiss francs (€4.4 million) in salary and share-based bonuses as the bank's profit shrank 62 per cent and its stock dropped 41 per cent.

"This level of compensation reflects the lower financial performance compared to the prior year and the lower share price and also recognises Mr Dougan's contribution to the long-term execution of the strategy and positioning of the firm in a changing regulatory and industry environment," Credit Suisse said in its annual report.

Mr Dougan, who was paid 12.8 million Swiss francs in 2010, did not comment.

With the slide in pay, he was pipped as Credit Suisse's highest earner by Robert Shafir, who runs the bank's asset management arm. That posted a 10 per cent rise in pretax profit on the year.

Mr Shafir earned 8.5 million Swiss francs overall in 2011. His pay for 2010 was not disclosed.
Both pay disclosures are likely to spark investor ire, particularly in Switzerland where calls for Credit Suisse to trim its costly investment bank have grown louder.

At the end of 2011, Mr Shafir held awards based on Credit Suisse shares out of past bonus programs worth nearly 8.6 million Swiss francs, plus vested shares worth nearly 5 million francs at current market value.

Credit Suisse highlighted that it hasn't paid top executives any cash awards for the last four years, in favour of a host of stock-based instruments which are linked to the bank's share price.

Credit Suisse said Shafir had successfully repositioned the asset management unit and cut costs, focused on more stable fee-based revenue, and managed risk proactively and with discipline.

Mr Dougan's pay is slightly less than that of UBS's Sergio Ermotti, who earned nearly 6.4 million Swiss francs for 2011, including more than 4 million francs in various immediate and deferred cash and share-based bonuses.

Reuters