Banks across Europe are racing to amend executive pay deals by the end of the month in an attempt to adhere to new EU bonus rules and secure shareholder approval at upcoming annual meetings.

欧洲各银行竞相在月底之前修改高管薪酬协议，此举旨在遵守欧盟(EU)新的奖金规则，并在即将召开的股东年会上获得股东批准。

“It couldn’t be a more difficult time,” said one remuneration committee member whose bank’s annual meeting is looming in May. “Our lawyers thought they had all the paperwork done and signed off. Now they’re looking at whether they can redraft everything in time.”

某银行将在5月召开股东大会。该行的一位薪酬委员会成员表示：“没有比现在更紧张的时间了。我们的律师曾认为他们已完成了所有文件。现在他们正研究可否及时重新拟定所有文件。”

Banks and their shareholders were thrown last week when the EU pushed through a long-debated plan to cap senior bankers’ bonuses at the level of their salaries – or twice that tally with the express approval of investors. The rules are set to come into force in January 2014.

上周，欧盟出台了一项辩论已久的计划，规定高级银行家的奖金/工资比例上限为1:1，或者在投资者明确批准的情况下提高至2:1，这让银行及其股东有些措手不及。新规将于2014年1月生效。

“We’ve spent months structuring sophisticated schemes with our shareholders,” one bank boss said. “Now we’re going . . . back to the drawing board.”

一位银行首席执行官表示：“我们花了数月时间才和我们的股东合作设计出复杂的方案。现在我们将……回到起点。”

The most pressing problem relates to chief executives and other board-level executives, whose pay deals must be put to shareholder votes.

最为紧迫的问题与首席执行官和董事会级别的其他高管有关——这些人的薪酬协议必须由股东投票批准。

While banks and their investors say it is too early to predict how pay deals will be restructured, most remuneration experts believe there will be significant salary inflation to offset the caps. Annual bonuses and long-term incentive plans are also likely to be amalgamated.

尽管银行及其投资者表示，目前预测如何调整薪酬协议还为时尚早，但大多数薪酬专家相信，银行将大幅上调薪酬水平来抵消上限规定的影响。银行也可能合并年度奖金和长期激励计划。

Pay experts said that would mean chief executives, at present paid salaries of up to £1.5m, could expect basic pay to rise to between £2m and £3.5m. “Banks are going to have to roll up their sleeves to get these schemes restructured fast,” said one senior fund manager.

薪酬专家表示，这将意味着首席执行官们可以预计基础薪酬将上升至200万英镑至350万英镑。目前他们的基础薪酬至多为150万英镑。一位高级对冲基金经理表示：“银行将会挽起袖子迅速重新设计这些方案。”

Directors warn that missing the deadline would mean either flouting the rules next year – or being forced to call an extraordinary general meeting later this year exclusively to vote on pay. “That would really put people on the spot. It would be incredibly dangerous reputationally,” one bank chairman said.

董事们警告称，如果不能赶在最后期限之前完成这些工作，就会意味着要么明年违反规定，要么就得在今年晚些时候召开一场特别股东大会专门就薪酬方案投票。一位银行董事会主席表示：“这将真的令人难堪。它将在名誉方面极其危险。”