Risk Officer Rises to $10 Million Job After Derivatives Meltdown


Bank of America Corp. (BAC) Chief Risk Officer Bruce Thompson received $11.4 million in compensation in 2010, the most awarded to an executive at the bank and this year he was promoted to chief financial officer. His stature isn’t an anomaly
Citigroup Inc. (C)American International Group Inc. (AIG) and UBS AG (UBSN) are among other companies raising the profile of risk executives. The derivatives meltdown that sparked the 2008 Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapse and an 18-month recession catapulted the role from obscurity to contention for future chief executive officers.
“The person sitting in the risk chair now is reporting to the CEO so the caliber has to be higher,” said Neil Hindle, who runs the CRO search practice at Egon Zehnder International in New York. “There has been a real increase in power over the last two years.”
That’s evident in the compensation, which can reach $10 million at large financial institutions now, compared with $500,000 as recently as 2001, Hindle said. Five years ago, a CRO typically reported no higher than the CFO, he said.
Citigroup Chief Risk Officer Brian Leach said it’s expected he’ll have a seat at the table when Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit makes key decisions. A decade ago, a bank risk executive often wasn’t in the room, he said.

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