HSBC shares suffer biggest fall since the pandemic as China write-off takes chunk out of profits

HSBC’s Noel Quinn (left) took home £10.6m last year while Citigroup boss Jane Fraser (right) earned more than £20m

Two of Britain’s top bankers took home bumper pay packets in 2023.

HSBC almost doubled its chief executive’s pay while the British woman in charge of Citigroup – dubbed the ‘First Lady of Wall Street’ – earned more than £20million last year.

Noel Quinn, at HSBC, saw his earnings soar to £10.6million from £5.6million in 2022.

And Citigroup boss Jane Fraser – the first woman to lead a top American investment bank – got a 6 per cent raise to £20.6million.

Fraser, who is Scottish, was paid £19.4million in 2022. The hike followed what the board said was ‘the most consequential set of changes to its organisational and management model since the 2008 financial crisis’. 

Fraser, who started her career at Goldman Sachs before joining consulting firm McKinsey, netted a £1.2million base salary and bonuses of £19.4million despite Citi’s 40 per cent drop in profits for the year as it reorganised, axing 20,000 jobs.

The board said the package ‘reflected its belief that Ms Fraser’s strategic and other priorities are sound and that she is executing on them promptly and thoughtfully, with an eye towards driving long-term sustainable growth, improved returns and enhanced safety and soundness’.

Quinn’s pay almost doubled as HSBC announced record pre-tax profits and lifted its bonus pool to a decade-high. The £3billion set aside was more than rivals.

HSBC said it reflected better performance – Barclays this week trimmed its pool by 3  per cent to £1.75billion.

Quinn, a HSBC veteran of 37 years, said he did not decide his own package, which is set by the board and approved by shareholders, with much of it performance-based.

He said: ‘2023 was a very strong performance and that is reflected in my own personal remuneration. A lot was the long-term incentives awarded three years ago that had very clear performance metrics and those metrics are what’s driven what’s been awarded.’