Societe Generale Joins BNP Paribas in Cascade of Compensation Cuts: Table

BNP Paribas SA (BNP), France’s biggest lender, is cutting 2011 bonuses by about half and Societe Generale SA will reduce payouts 44 percent, adding to the list of firms taking aim at compensation for investment bankers.

The following table updates Bloomberg’s compilation of pay decreases at banks and securities firms, with summaries of the terms. Links to news stories with more complete descriptions are in the column at right.

Wall Street firms are curbing pay and changing compensation formulas to limit expenses as they grapple with lower revenue. Some are giving less cash and more stock, and others are deferring a greater percentage of total pay. Revenue shrank last year as mergers and trading slowed, turning financial stocks into 2011’s worst performers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Among the most recent disclosures:

-- Societe Generale (GLE), based in Paris, cut the bonus pool at its corporate and investment bank by “something like 44 percent,” said Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea in a Feb. 16 interview with Bloomberg Television.

-- BNP Paribas, also Paris-based, reduced by half the 2011 bonus pool for capital-markets professionals, Chief Executive Officer Jean-Laurent Bonnafe said on Feb. 15.

-- UBS (UBSN), Switzerland’s biggest bank, cut its 2011 bonus pool by 40 percent, and reduced bonuses at its investment bank by 60 percent, the Zurich-based company said on Feb. 7.

                            AVERAGE
COMPANY                       CUT       IMPACT **
----------------------------------------------------------------

BNP Paribas SA                50%       Cuts bonuses for capital
                                        markets staff.

Societe Generale SA           44%       Reduces bonuses at
                                        corporate and investment
                                        bank.

Credit Suisse Group AG        41%       Applies to bonus pool;
                                        some senior staff get
                                        bonds backed by
                                        derivatives.

UBS AG                        40%       Affects bonus pool.
                                        Reduces pool at
                                        investment bank 60%.

Barclays Plc                  32%       Affects bonus pool
                                        at securities unit; caps
                                        cash bonuses at 65,000
                                        pounds.

Citigroup Inc.                30%       Reduces bonuses for
                                        investment bank.

Morgan Stanley                20%-30%   Covers senior investment
                                        bankers and traders,
                                        caps cash bonuses at
                                        $125,000, raises
                                        average deferred pay
                                        to 75 percent.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.    More than   Affects pay for all
                              26%       33,300 employees.

Bank of America Corp.         25%       Applies to investment
                                        bankers; freezes
                                        some salaries
                                        and limits some cash
                                        bonuses to $150,000.

Lazard Ltd.                   20%       Reduces discretionary
                                        bonuses firm-wide.

Deutsche Bank AG              15%       Applies to corporate
                                        and investment-banking
                                        division; caps bonuses
                                        paying out this year
                                        at 200,000 euros.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.           9%       Covers salary, bonus
                                        and benefits at
                                        investment bank.

**Summary of terms; for more complete details, click on
highlighted links to original articles. Some figures represent
approximations by the companies.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Clark in New York at pclark48@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net

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BNP Paribas

Antoine Antoniol/Bloomberg

BNP Paribas.

BNP Paribas. Photographer: Antoine Antoniol/Bloomberg