Compensation and related performance management mechanisms help signal the importance that financial institutions place on prudent management of risk and on standards of behaviour, including compliance with related laws, regulations and supervisory expectations. 

Compensation tools, along with other measures, can play an important role in promoting prudent risk taking and addressing misconduct risk by providing both ex ante incentives for good conduct and ex post adjustment mechanisms that ensure appropriate accountability. In 2018, the FSB published supplementary guidance on the use of compensation tools to address misconduct. The guidance provided firms and supervisors with a framework to consider how compensation practices and tools could be used to reduce misconduct risk and address misconduct incidents.

This report looks at the progress made by FSB member jurisdictions in implementing compensation tools. Consistent with findings from previous FSB compensation progress reports, there is complexity and variability in implementing different compensation tools.

Since March 2021 several jurisdictions have implemented legal and regulatory changes related to the use of compensation tools. Legal and regulatory challenges persist in the use of compensation tools, particularly clawback.

The report highlights a number of practical solutions to addressing challenges experienced by jurisdictions and firms applying these tools.