HSBC pays bigger bucks
HSBC is not best known for its exuberance when it comes to pay, but Stuart Gulliver's shareholding in the company suggests this may be changing.
The Independent says Gulliver, head of HSBC's investment banking division, has been awarded shares worth 29.5m over the past five years, making him one of London's better paid individuals. His share package doesn't include his salary, cash bonus or share options, and is bigger than that of HSBC's chief executive Michael Geoghegan and its chairman Stephen Green.
According to the Financial Times Gulliver is believed to be HSBC's highest paid employee, with a salary and bonus last year of about 10m. Last year it was disclosed that of Bob Diamond, head of Barclays Capital, enjoyed a 15m pay-and-bonus package.
Following episodes such as its alleged refusal to pay cash bonuses to equity analysts in 2002, HSBC has developed a reputation for frugality. This may now be misplaced, although the bank still lags the likes of Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, which paid their chief executives stock awards of 19.5m ($37m) and 10.6m for 2004 alone.
