City banks paid senior staff average of £1.8m in 2010

Research by the Guardian has shown that in 2010, the average remuneration for 1,265 senior staff at eight City banks was £1.8m: almost 75 times the average UK wage.

The Guardian found that the average pay deal was £1m or more for employees who were seen to have the most influence over risk-taking activities at their firms. The highest average of £4m was at Goldman Sachs, and the lowest of £1m at HSBC. 

In the same year, data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the average wage in the UK was £25,900.

The news comes at a time when the government is under pressure to announce new measures on bankers’ pay, particularly the bonuses for executives at the bailed-out Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland. Last week, Goldman Sachs revealed that its staff received £8bn in pay and bonuses in 2011 – an average of £238,000 each – despite a fall in profits.  

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