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 headhunters 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.