OCBC BANK chief executive David Conner earned between $3.75 million and $3.99 million last year - around a third down on his 2007 remuneration.

About 31.1 per cent of his remuneration last year was in salary and fees, 22.5 per cent in bonuses and 45.3 per cent in deferred shares, according to the bank's annual report yesterday. The remaining 1.1 per cent is in the form of benefits such as club and car perks.

In 2007, Mr Conner took home between $6 million and $6.25 million.

OCBC's deferred share plan means that he will receive the stock awards only at the end of three years - in 2012.

His bonus has also been substantially reduced. The 2007 pay package included bonuses of at least $2.6 million but last year they were about $900,000.

Compensation experts say the decline underscores a growing trend among banks to slash executive bonuses to manage costs amid the global slump.

OCBC's net income fell 30 per cent to $301 million in the three months ended Dec 31, from $428 million a year ago.

An OCBC staff member who spoke on condition of anonymity said: 'The much smaller bonus that our CEO received is an assuring indication that we are all riding through these difficult times together.'

Mr Conner's package is less than the remuneration received by some of the highest-paid executives at the larger DBS Group Holdings last year.

DBS chief executive Richard Stanley earned between $4.75 million and $5 million last year, though that was just for the period from May 1 to Dec 31.

About half the amount was in cash bonuses.

Mr Frank Wong, former DBS chief operating officer, received a package of between $4.25 million and $4.5 million, 78 per cent of which was in cash. That was for the period Jan 1 to Aug 31 last year.

United Overseas Bank has yet to release its annual report.

OCBC's letter to shareholders said that in the current environment, it is appropriate that it becomes 'more careful' with its expenses.

'While we'll limit new hiring, there is currently no plan for retrenchment,' it said.

Calling the past year an 'economic annus horribilis', OCBC said that this year will remain a difficult one for business and individuals around the world.

The bank added that it will consider retrenchment only as a 'last resort' after other cost-saving measures are implemented.

OCBC directors David Wong and Lee Tsao Yuan are retiring at the forthcoming annual general meeting.

GABRIEL CHEN

This article was first published in The Straits Times.