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CHIM WAI-KIN, the chief credit officer who was Bank of China Ltd.’s highest-paid executive, left his job amid pay cuts being imposed on senior executives at Chinese lenders, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Chim’s contract expired and wasn’t renewed, the sources said, asking not to be identified as the departure hasn’t been announced.
The exit of Chim, who oversaw credit quality at Bank of China (BOC), China’s third-largest lender by market value, comes as lenders grapple with a slowing economy that’s triggered a surge in bad loans.
Senior managers at China’s five largest banks — all of which are government-controlled — had their total compensation for this year cut to no more than about 600,000 yuan (US$97,000), sources with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month.
China’s government said last year it will reduce salaries for executives at State-owned companies because the public is unhappy with “unreasonably high” incomes.
The new pay limits, starting this year, apply to chairmen, presidents, heads of supervisory boards and vice presidents at the largest banks, the sources said earlier. For banking executives, their monthly base salary was cut to about 5,000 to 6,000 yuan, one source said.
Chim’s 8.5 million yuan in pay in 2013 was the highest among executives at listed Chinese banks, according to company filings. The package included his base salary, incentives and benefits such as a housing allowance. His 2014 compensation hasn’t been disclosed yet.
Most senior executives at the largest Chinese banks received total compensation of less than 2 million yuan in 2013, according to filings from the five biggest lenders.
While Chim isn’t subject to the latest pay restriction because he is a foreigner, the other executives’ cuts made it hard for him to remain working at the bank, one of the sources said.
A U.K. citizen, Chim has worked in credit and risk management for more than 20 years including at Standard Chartered Plc., Bankers Trust Co. and Deutsche Bank. (SD-Agencies)
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