Bonus als Risiko – Zur Regulierung der variablen Vergütung von Bankorganen

The experience with the Credit Suisse crisis of confidence has once again shown that compensation systems are of considerable importance for the risk management of financial institutions. Inappropriate risks and wrong incentives can endanger the substance and profitability of a bank and thus its stability. This article focuses on the regulation of variable compensation of bank boards and analyzes the relationship between bonus and risk. It first shows which compensation principles de lege lata have to be observed in the bank’s «going concern» situation and which basic guidelines have to be followed according to FINMA’s requirements when designing a financial institution’s compensation system. In the following, we will take a closer look at the existing and the now revised regulations on the compensation of executive management in the event of a crisis situation of a systemically important bank.