HSBC Holdings PLC is the latest banking company to pump up base salaries in an effort to keep employees happy amid a Europe-wide crackdown on bonuses, said a person familiar with the issue.
The London company will double the pay of "several hundred" bankers, many in its global banking and markets division, who are top earners in London, Hong Kong and New York, the source said.
The salary increases are meant to compensate for new European rules limiting the amount of a bonus that can be paid in cash.
After being subjected to tighter scrutiny and regulation regarding bonuses in the wake of the financial crisis, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Barclays PLC and several U.S. banking companies have also raised salaries for investment bankers to compensate for smaller bonuses.
