The answer that bank chiefs can’t bring themselves to contemplate

Of course banking still works for some people. The vexed subject of executive pay once again hit the headlines last month amid reports that HSBC’s remuneration committee is discussing with shareholders cutting the maximum payable to the chief executive from £15 million at present to £12 million ($19 .2 million) in future. At the same time, it emerged that Brady Dougan’s 2010 compensation fell to SFr12.8 million ($14 million) for 2010, down from SFr19.2 million in 2009, as the bank’s reported net profit fell by 24%.

Sympathy is scarce for chief executives even when their pay is trimmed, if their banks are producing returns on equity not much above the cost of equity, or below it.