Deutsche Bank has set aside €225m ($314m) towards payment of a UK “supertax” on bankers' bonuses to spread the cost of the levy and avoid the bank's business being “destroyed” in Britain if staff were not adequately rewarded, said Josef Ackermann, chief executive.
Germany's biggest bank is the first large institution to reveal what it expects to pay for the expected one-off tax in the UK, home to some of Deutsche's most profitable sales and trading operations. Deutsche will spread the burden of some of the bill across its global operations while expecting UK employees to foot the balance.
Mr Ackermann said the provision, accounted for in the three months to December, was a “burden sharing” between shareholders and staff. It comes as banks try to quell public anger about bonuses while heeding regulatory demands to boost capital, and rewarding investors after big profits in 2009.