China's finance elite face $400,000 pre-tax pay cap, bonus clawbacks

By Bloomberg News

The era of big paychecks for Chinese financiers is fast coming to an end as some of the industry’s biggest companies impose strict new limits to comply with President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” campaign.
 

The nation’s largest financial conglomerates have asked senior staff to forgo deferred bonuses and in some cases return pay from previous years to comply with a pre-tax cap of 2.9 million yuan ($400,000), according to people familiar with the matter. 

China Merchants Group, China Everbright Group and Citic Group Corp. are among state entities that have conveyed the guidance to employees at some of their units in recent weeks, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. Some mutual fund managers are also being pressured to return non-compliant pay earned in previous years, the people said.

Vilified by Beijing as “hedonists” over their lavish lifestyles, top-earning finance workers including investment bankers and fund managers have been among the hardest hit by Xi’s push for a more equal distribution of wealth. The $66 trillion financial industry has fallen under tighter Communist Party control, with banks and brokerages slashing pay and other perks.

Several Chinese mutual fund managers proposed capping staff salaries at about 3 million yuan, people familiar with the matter said in April. It wasn’t clear how many financial entities will be subject to the the current guidance, the people added.

At Citic Securities Co., a unit of Citic Group, all senior executives on its management committee earned well over 3 million yuan last year, with Chairman Zhang Youjun making 5 million yuan, according to its annual report. The majority of their pay was from deferred bonuses. 

Representatives of Citic Group, Merchants Group and Everbright Group didn’t respond to requests for comment. 

The move comes as China recently started a new round of anti-graft inspections of some of its largest state lenders, the central bank and key regulators, the first broad probe since the one in 2021 that sent shock-waves through the industry.

At least 130 financial officials and executives were investigated or punished in 2023 alone, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official announcements.

Authorities have put an increasing focus on corruption among cadres and corporate executives, at a time when they are trying to stabilize the world’s second largest economy and prevent systemic financial risks. The proposed caps mark a drastic shift from the era where companies doled out big pay checks to lure top talent.

President Xi will convene senior officials from July 15 to 18 for a delayed conclave that’s expected to set long-term policy on a wide range of economic and political issues, the official Xinhua News Agency reported after the Politburo wrapped up a meeting on Thursday. That meeting emphasized the party’s leadership should be at the center of any reform, and called for the proper handling of relationships between economy and society, government and market, development and security.

China’s economy is struggling to regain momentum as confidence has cratered among domestic consumers and international investors. Banks have been urged to step up lending, but demand is weak for new credit. The real estate market is still in a deep slump and foreign investors have shunned the stock market.