Fewer than one in 10 of Europe’s best-paid bankers are female, new research shows, highlighting the wide gender pay gap in the financial services industry.
Just 183 out of 2,017 people earning more than €1 million ($1.1 million) were female in 2022, according to data published by the European Banking Authority on Thursday. It’s the first time the institution has provided a gender breakdown in its annual high-earners report.
The lack of diversity in finance has long been recognized as a problem but change is slow even as authorities around the world seek to close the gender pay gap. In the European Union, lawmakers have sought to boost the share of women on boards and the bloc wants firms with at least 100 staff to disclose information that will make it easier to compare employee salaries.
The data indicates that the EU’s highest-paid banker that year was in Spain, where an unidentified individual earned €13.1 million. The biggest remuneration package went to someone at an investment firm in France, who was awarded €30.7 million, including variable remuneration of €30.3 million.
The highest share of female high earners was within corporate functions and independent control functions, with 16% in each case, according to Bloomberg calculations based on the EBA data. It was just 8% in investment banking.
The total number of people classified as high earners at banks and investment firms jumped almost 20% in 2022. The EBA cited business performance and inflation as reasons.