(Bloomberg) -- Banco Santander SA is expanding the bonus pool for its investment bankers by about 5%, according to people familiar with the matter, an increase that’s below many peers even though the unit had a record year.
The change, which applies to the division known as Corporate and Investment Banking, comes after Santander raised variable compensation by about 10% on average last year, Bloomberg News has reported. There’s individual variation, with some top performers getting raises above 10%, some of the people said. All asked not to be identified discussing the private information.
A Santander representative declined to comment.
The biggest Spanish lender has joined many peers in reporting surging revenue across its investment bank for last year as deal-making, debt underwriting and securities trading picked up. The top line at Santander’s CIB grew by 11% to a record level while net income rose 12%.
The increase in Santander’s CIB bonus pool would be less than the double-digit gains expected at the big Wall Street banks. However, it would be in line with the rise in variable compensation at BNP Paribas SA’s investment bank, according to a Bloomberg News report last month.
Santander Chief Executive Officer Hector Grisi highlighted fee income in the US as a CIB growth driver when discussing full-year earnings on an analyst call last week. The bank has hired strongly in the country over the past years as it picked up investment bankers from now-defunct Credit Suisse.
While the newly-hired investment bankers are making inroads into businesses such as leveraged finance, some of their pay packages far exceed what longtime staffers get, Bloomberg News has reported. That has led to consternation at a firm where consumer and commercial lending remain the heart of the business, people familiar with the matter said at the time.
--With assistance from Macarena Muñoz.
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