Banks ZKB CEO receives higher fixed salary and lower bonus
ZKB CEO Urs Baumann earned slightly less last year. Above all, however, the components of his salary have changed.
26.03.2025, 09:12
26.03.2025, 10:48
SDA
The CEO received a total of CHF 2.82 million last year, compared to CHF 2.85 million in the previous year, according to the bank's annual report. This comes as no surprise: the total remuneration for the CEO and the members of the Executive Board had already been capped at the level of 2022. This was not least a response to political criticism.
As announced, there were major changes to the composition of the salary: The CEO's fixed salary rose from CHF 700,000 to one million. In terms of bonuses, variable remuneration fell from just under CHF 1.46 million to just over CHF 800,000, while the so-called "entitlements" (deferred bonuses that are only paid under certain conditions) increased from just under CHF 490,000 to just over CHF 800,000.
Adjustment following external review
These changes were announced in the fall of 2023. At that time, an external review found that the total remuneration for a universal bank of the size and complexity of Zürcher Kantonalbank was in line with the market overall, but that the variable remuneration was too high.
The adjusted profit-sharing model is now leading to flattened growth in variable remuneration overall, the bank now writes. As a result, the total remuneration paid to the nine members of the ZKB Executive Board in 2024 amounted to 17.96 million after 18.96 million.
The total remuneration of the Bank's Governing Board and the other members of the Bank Council is reported at 1.93 million (+2%), with the highest individual remuneration going to Chairman Jörg Müller-Ganz at a good CHF 445,000.
Overall, the Bank's personnel expenses rose by 3.7% last year to CHF 1.22 billion. With 5779 full-time positions, this results in an average salary of just over 210,000 francs.
However, it should be noted that in addition to fixed and variable remuneration, personnel expenses also include pension fund contributions, social security contributions and training contributions, ZKB emphasizes. All of this adds up to just under a fifth of the reported personnel expenses.
