UBS Group AG minimize its bonus pool for final 12 months by 14% after a harder 12 months for deal-makers and merchants, whereas elevating Chief Government Officer Sergio Ermotti to the rank of best-paid European financial institution boss.

Ermotti obtained 14.4 million Swiss francs ($15.9 million) in compensation for his first 9 months on the job, together with 12.3 million francs in variable compensation, UBS mentioned in its annual report Thursday.

UBS introduced again Ermotti as CEO in April final 12 months to supervise the government-brokered rescue of Credit score Suisse and the multi-year integration of the financial institution’s former rival.

UBS posted a loss within the second half of final 12 months and has warned that 2024 shall be harder as extra advanced integration duties are carried out.

“The board acknowledges Mr. Ermotti’s wonderful efficiency in a defining 12 months in UBS’s historical past and powerful progress in delivering on integration priorities,” UBS mentioned within the report.

Annual revenue got here in at a file $27.8 billion, pushed virtually solely by the extraordinary results of the acquisition of Credit score Suisse. The so-called destructive goodwill impact, associated to the low buy value for the financial institution, was decreased by $1.2 billion from an earlier estimate.

UBS shares whipsawed after the annual report and have been briefly halted. The inventory was down  2.2% as of 10:05 a.m. in New York Thursday.

Chairman Colm Kelleher obtained mounted compensation of 4.7 million Swiss francs for the 2023-2024 interval.

UBS’s decrease general bonus allocation displays the affect from “difficult working circumstances for the monetary trade, and the uncertainty and market volatility ensuing from continued geopolitical tensions,” the financial institution mentioned in its report.

Banks throughout Europe are reducing the bonus pool at their funding banking divisions after a droop in offers and a slowdown in buying and selling final 12 months.

BNP Paribas SA minimize whole variable compensation in its funding financial institution by about 5%, whereas Deutsche Financial institution AG decreased its equal pool by greater than 10%.