Dive Brief:

• Citigroup Inc. CFO Mark Mason was the highest-paid finance chief in the U.S. banking industry in 2022, with total adjusted compensation of approximately $15 million, according to an S&P Global Market study released Thursday.
• Mason, a 22-year veteran of the New York-based bank who has served as its finance chief since 2019, regained the seat of highest-compensated CFO after losing that crown to Bank of America’s Alastair Borthwick in 2021, the annual study of compensation trends among bank executives said.
• Wells Fargo CFO Michael Santomassimo, meanwhile, was last year’s second-highest paid finance chief with total adjusted compensation of $12.8 million — representing a 6.8% increase from 2021. Santomassimo’s compensation included a stock award of $7.9 million, the second-highest such sum awarded to a CFO last year, according to the study.

Dive Insight:

The $15 million Mason raked in last year included $7.2 million in stock awards, a $5.2 million bonus, and a base salary of $1 million, according to the company’s most recent proxy statement. This represents a 12.6% increase from 2021, according to S&P Global.

Borthwick, meanwhile, slipped from first to third on the list of highest-paid finance chiefs, receiving $12.6 million in total compensation for 2022. This represents an 11.8% decline which can be attributed to a reduction in overall cash compensation of $4.8 million in 2022 as compared to $8.2 million in 2021, according to the S&P Global study.

Borthwick received a cash bonus of $3.8 million for 2022, compared to the $4.1 million received in 2021, according to Bank of America’s most recent proxy statement. He received a base salary of $1 million as well as $44,808 in other compensation for 2022. In 2021, his base salary was $666,667, with Borthwick also receiving $41,470 in other compensation.

Mason, Borthwick, and Santomassimo’s compensation for the past year follows a strong rebound by the banking industry after the pandemic, with bank profitability reaching a 14-year high in 2022, a December 2022 report from McKinsey found. However, geopolitical as well as economic turmoil lingering from the pandemic had already begun to impact the sector, “exacerbating fragilities,” McKinsey said.

Cracks in the space widened in 2023, with the banking industry reeling from shock waves including the high-profile failure of Silicon Valley Bank — swiftly followed by that of Signature Bank, among other ripple effects — this past March.  

Facing inflation, labor market challenges and other headwinds, banks have focused in improving costs — with Citi, for example, both reducing its headcount and increasing its investment into technology initiatives surrounding new tools such as generative AI, Industry Dive sister publication Banking Dive reported in June.

Citi’s tech initiatives were expected to drive 5,000 job cuts by the end of that month. Further cost tightening by the bank could potentially include cutting a layer of upper management, Banking Dive also reported — something that comes as Citi, which is also dealing with a slew of executive departures, considers large-scale changes in its overall strategy.

The bank is considering breaking up its Institutional Client Group into three distinct segments, a move which follows the announcement that its ICG head, Paco Ybarra, would be departing the bank, Banking Dive reported. It is also renewing its focus on its wealth management sector, as part of a new initiative which aims to place the emphasis on people rather than products, bank executives said.

Citi reported revenue of $19.4 billion for its second quarter ended June 30, a 1% decrease from the year prior, according to its most recent earnings results. It is expected to release its third quarter results in October.