Bank of America's bonuses and the MDs earning €5m+
2024 was a pretty good year for Bank of America worldwide. The global bonus pool went up by 10% or so. In London, however, bonuses went up by a slightly higher 12%.
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Accounts for Bank of America’s London subsidiaries show that BofA's 341 material risk takers (MRTs - basically, the most well-paid and important people at the bank) were paid an average of £1.23m ($1.65m) last year, of which £584k ($785k) was salary and £643k ($864k) was bonus. This compared to £1.2m last year, of which £630k was salary and £573k was bonus.
Some people at BofA did far better than others, though. 12 people at Bank of America earned over €5m ($5.7) in London last year, which was more than the number earning that amount in 2022 and 2023 combined. The number of people earning over €1m as a whole also increased, by 17, or 9%, to 213. Last year was a fine year to be a high performer.
It was also a fine year to get a bonus. While average salaries for MRTs at BofA in London fell by around 7% to £584k ($785k) bonuses rose by 12% to £643k ($864k). This was the likely result of the lifting of the bonus cap in London. In time, MRT salaries in the City may even in line with the $400k or so typical at BofA in New York.
US banks are obliged to disclose remuneration for staff identified as “material risk takers” (MRTs) at their London operations. MRT is a legal term that refers to people whose “professional activities may have a material impact on an institution’s risk profile”. It also includes those paid over a certain sum of money - and therefore includes all of a bank's top performers, somewhat independently of their title. An investment banking MD is certainly an MRT - but at the same time, a sales & trading VP might also make the cut.
Interestingly, the number of MRTs at Bank of America fell slightly between 2023 and 2024, from 343 to 341.
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