Wage Alert: DBS CEO pay for 2012 over S$9 million

DBS Group Holdings' CEO Piyush Gupta's total compensation last year exceeded that earned by his peers in Deutsche Bank and Barclays.

Gupta's salary increased 15% to S$9.3million last year, ahead of Deutsche's co-CEOs' Anush Jain and Jeurgen Fitschen at 4.8 million euros (S$7.4m) and Barclay's Antony Jenkins' at £2.6 million (S$4.9m).

Bloomberg reported Gupta's increment was in line with the bank's growth in 2012, where DBS recorded a 29 %jump in shares.

Under his care, Southeast Asia's largest bank also saw record profits of S$3.8 billion in 2012, and continues to expand its footprint in the region - notably with the pending takeover of PT Bank Danamon Indonesia.

DBS' annual report revealed while Gupta's base salary totalled S$1.2 million, he was awarded a S$3.5 million cash bonus, and S$4.6 million in company stock shares.

However, while things are looking up in this side of the world, major financial institutions in Europe are not faring as well. Deutsche's Jain and Fitschen saw the bank's profits fall 93% after regulatory reviews following mortgage-linked lawsuits.

Barclays also reported its first loss in two decades, after it was forced to set aside funds to compensate clients who were wrongly sold interest-rate swaps and loan-repayment insurance.

Locally, a report released by Hay Group in February found CEOs of financial institutions are still earning significantly more than those in other industries.

The top bosses in financial firms are outperforming their peers by over half a million Singapore dollars, earning an average remuneration of S$2.88 million.

Only one of Gupta's direct competitors, United Overseas Bank, has released their CEO pay report for last year, revealing it paid its Wee Ee Cheong S$8.75 million to S$9 million. This is an increase from the S$6.5 million to S$6.75 million Wee received the previous financial year.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp has yet to release its CEO pay report, which is expected to be published next week.

Other top earning CEOs in Singapore include those from the property sector (S$2.3 million) and the hotels and restaurant industry (S$1.6 million).