Managing directors at banks in London are expecting a 44 per cent rise in bonuses for 2013 even as European authorities seek to scale back compensation, according to a recruiter's survey.
The average bonus for managing directors may increase to £166,955 ($271,686) from £115,618 a year earlier, Astbury Marsden said in an emailed statement. That's more than double their average salary, up from 88 per cent in 2012, the recruitment firm said.
"Despite pressure to keep a lid on bonuses, as the economy recovers and bank profits start to return, it's not unreasonable that bonus expectations also rise," Mark Cameron, chief operating officer at Astbury Marsden in London, said in the statement.
"Although prospects have improved, some may find themselves disappointed this year."
The European Union brokered a deal in February to outlaw banker bonuses that are more than twice fixed pay, a move lawmakers said would prevent excessive payouts and curb risk-taking.
The UK in September challenged the caps as illegal at the EU's highest court in a case that has yet to be decided.
The European Banking Authority softened its stance on bonuses somewhat, stating on December 13 that banks will be able to ask national regulators to exempt staff earning as much as ^1 million ($1.4 million) from rules that cap bonuses at twice fixed pay.
London's financial-services firms are also offering larger pay packages to lure senior staff to change employers, Astbury Marsden said. Managing-director level employees received a 29 per cent addition to their fixed pay when they moved jobs, compared with 15 per cent in 2012, the firm said.
Britain was home to 2,188 investment bankers earning more than ^1 million in 2012, the largest share in the EU, while Spain had 37, the London-based EBA, set up in 2011 to harmonise banking rules in the EU, said in a survey last month. France and Germany had 117 and 100, respectively.
Astbury Marsden surveyed 1,509 investment bankers in London in October.
