UBS is paying SFr300m ($329m) in long-term bonuses to its top bankers, as it fights to retain senior personnel after a $2.3bn trading scandal and a sweeping restructuring of its investment banking business.
The Swiss bank said the so-called “special plan” awards, which were disclosed in annual results yesterday and are to be awarded this year, would have strict forfeiture conditions.
Only about 5 per cent of UBS’s 17,000 investment bankers are eligible and they will have to stay for three years before they can cash in the bonuses, according to people familiar with the plan. On average, each recipient will receive about SFr350,000 in deferred shares.