Head of Austrian bank Stepic returns half of pay

By The Newsroom
Published 10th Apr 2013, 01:00 BST
THE head of an Austrian bank has returned millions of euros of his pay from last year, saying the size of his remuneration goes against his and the bank’s values.

Herbert Stepic handed back €2 million of the €4.9m he received at Raiffeisen International Bank for 2012, saying his pay had been inflated by the bank’s strong share performance.

In an e-mail to staff yesterday, Mr Stepic described his move as “my personal contribution to the rigorous cost-saving measures in our company”.

Although Raiffeisen’s shares performed well from 2009 to 2012, the Austrian bank’s profits dropped to €700m last year from €968m in 2011.