"Banks spent millions implementing the bonus cap. They're not about to reverse it"

efinancialcareers.com:

In these dark days for investment bank recruitment, when not much is occurring and the bedding down of Credit Suisse stragglers is the main event, there might be a glimmer of hope for London recruiters in 2024. — The bonus cap and its elimination. Many banks in London are now free to pay bigger bonuses and lower salaries for the first time in eight years. Does this mean they'll hire new senior people next year, simply in order to re-rate compensation away from high fixed costs and towards flexible bonuses instead?

No. 

Much as banks could, potentially, hire new managing directors on lower salaries, recruiters say it won't happen. At least not in 2024.

«Banks' HR teams put thousands of hours' work into standardising salaries for the bonus cap,» says one headhunter who also works as a compensation consultant. «Millions of pounds have been spent on law firms to get these compensation structures in place. They're not going to just wipe the slate clean.»

They don't have to. When the British Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) released its statement on lifting the bonus cap last month, it said that banks "may, if they wish, still choose to wait until a later date" before availing themselves of the opportunity to cut fixed pay and hike bonuses. Getting rid of the bonus cap isn't mandatory. If they want, banks can keep fixed pay high and bonuses low forever. 

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They have reason to do this. Since the bonus cap was introduced in 2015, banks have implemented strict 'grid systems' for salaries in Europe. Pay has become much more structured as a result. Banks are acutely aware of and obsessively interested in where their people rank on the grids compared to rivals'. Reverting to a