ABN Amro ups exec salaries by 20%

The ABN Amro has heightened the steady salary of its 100 highest managers under the board of directors by 20 percent at the start if this year. The bank announced Wednesday that the variable bonus has been lowered from 100 percent to 20 percent. "You have to reward competitively, otherwise you run out of your bank. It is unavoidable", said Gerrit Zalm, Chairman of the Board at ABN Amro in an interview with the Financieel Dagblad. Zalm believes the pay increase conforms to the rules, and is meant to keep talent inside the bank. The increase of the salary compensates the managers for the bonus cap that Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem wants to introduce next year. Despite the increase, ABN Amro says that managers will have on average five to ten percent less income overall. Dijsselbloem wants Dutch banks to be able to give their employees a maximum variable bonus of 20 percent of their salary from next year.