US and European banks are offering huge pay packages to hire top bankers in Asia-Pacific, in a sign that the compensation curbs pledged by financial groups after the crisis are already being eroded.
A shortage of talent combined with rivalry among banks to expand or rebuild operations across the fast-growing region has sent compensation levels for some bankers soaring to levels last seen before the financial turmoil, according to head-hunters and bankers.
Banking chiefs said that, unlike in the US and Europe, where a public backlash forced banks to keep a lid on pay, the war for talent in Asia prompted many institutions to make lucrative offers to star recruits.