AUSTRALIAN bank bosses pull in big bucks, according to a new remuneration survey, but the chief executives of Singapore's big three financial institutions are not far behind.

A league table ranking banking pay in the Asia-Pacific found that seven of the top 15 best-paid CEOs in the last financial year came from Australian banks.

Bosses at ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank took the top four spots, with ANZ's Mr Michael Smith the highest-paid with a pay package of almost US$9 million (S$12.6 million).

CEOs at Singapore's United Overseas Bank, DBS and OCBC came in at eighth, ninth and 11th respectively.

UOB chief executive Wee Ee Cheong reportedly took home between US$3.82 million and US$4 million, while OCBC's Mr David Conner earned about US$2.61 million to US$2.78 million this year.

Former DBS veteran Edmund Koh, from Singapore, also made the list, albeit with a Taiwanese bank. Mr Koh, now president of Taiwan's Ta Chong Bank, was ranked 15th.

Hong Kong had bosses from Bank of East Asia (fifth), Hang Seng Bank (12th) and Wing Hang Bank (14th) in the top 15, while some from China, India and Malaysia also made the cut. Japan and South Korea were not included in the survey.

The Asian Banker magazine first published the rankings of the 50 best-paid CEOs two years ago when the financial sector was booming.

Chief executives at Australian banks also dominated the 2007 rankings, taking seven of the top 10 positions.

But the new survey found that total pay has dipped about 11 per cent for the top 10 earners, reflecting the tougher times in the financial sector.

It also showed that banks are increasing their reliance on performance when paying their CEOs.

In 2007, only about half of Maybank CEO Amirsham Aziz's pay was based on performance. But this year, Malaysia's largest lender pegged about 80 per cent of new chief executive Abdul Wahid Omar's pay to his performance.

Management consultancy Hay Group, which conducted the survey with The Asian Banker, said aligning pay with business objectives and balancing sustainable growth with short-term risk mitigation will make sense for banks next year.

Asian Banker chief executive Emmanuel Daniel said Asia-Pacific banks remained largely profitable in the financial crisis, primarily because they were attached to growing economies that need not take excessive risks to see profits.

'Their top executives appear to be reasonably compensated and the risk culture has not pushed them to seek growth into questionable activities,' he said.

'But the growing emphasis on performance-based metrics may eventually lead into questionable practices, if proper safeguards are not put in place.'