Santander CEO Defends Banker Salaries Amid Government Criticism

Banco Santander SA’s second-in-command defended the salaries earned by top bankers amid a barrage of criticism from Spanish government officials angered by lenders’ plans to make sweeping job cuts.

“The banking sector’s remuneration programs are among the most regulated that I know of,” Santander Chief Executive Officer Jose Antonio Alvarez said Wednesday, after the lender reported its highest adjusted quarterly profit in a decade.

Jose Antonio Alvarez

Photographer: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg

Strict European regulations on pay discourage risk-taking and put the region’s lenders at a disadvantage to rivals in other parts of the world when it comes to hiring banking talent, Alvarez said.

Economy Minister ...