Uproar is prevailing in the corridors of the ECB following the revelation that Christine Lagarde receives approximately €140,000 annually from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). This comes at a time when internal ECB rules explicitly prohibit its staff from accepting remuneration from third parties.
Some ECB employees, using internal messaging forums, protested against the apparent "double standards" in the treatment of the president's pay from the BIS, a central banking institution established in 1930. "Practice what you preach!" wrote one ECB staffer, according to screenshots seen by the Financial Times. Lagarde is one of 18 top global central bankers serving on the BIS board. Although all are entitled to an annual fixed fee and variable attendance allowances, the BIS does not publicly disclose individual payments.
However, in a written response to German MEP Fabio De Masi and his Swedish colleague Dick Erixon, Lagarde revealed for the first time on Friday that she received 130,457 Swiss francs from the BIS in 2025, which is approximately €140,000. In 2024, she received a base salary from the ECB of €466,000 plus €135,000 in additional benefits. Her estimated total compensation of roughly €741,000 makes Lagarde the highest-paid official in the EU.
Other central banks handle BIS compensation differently. Fed Chair Jay Powell and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey do not claim their BIS pay; in the Fed's case, because US law prohibits officials from receiving money from a foreign institution. The Banque de France, one of the few central banks to disclose its governor's BIS pay, recovers half of the fixed fee on behalf of the institution.
The ECB regulation
ECB employees recently discussed a Financial Times article regarding Lagarde's pay on an internal online forum accessible only to staff, pointing out that the central bank's internal regulations forbid personnel from receiving third-party remuneration.
According to ECB staff rules, employees must not accept "any payments from third parties in relation to the exercise of their professional duties," and if such payments are offered, "they must be paid to the ECB."
The central bank told the FT that its president "is not a member of staff" and therefore "is not covered by staff regulations," adding that she is subject "to a specific code of conduct for high-level ECB officials."
An anonymous post, seen by the FT, argued that Lagarde received external pay "for activities that appear to be part of her professional duties as president of the ECB. This is not allowed by ECB rules, at least for regular staff."
According to a second post, the central bank's human resources department informed an ECB employee, who inquired about a joint project with the BIS, that they were not allowed to accept additional pay. "We mortals cannot take the BIS allowance," a third post noted.
The ECB stated to the FT that its staff "cannot accept remuneration for activities they perform as part of their duties at the ECB." According to a person familiar with the matter, this also includes an ECB employee who accompanies Lagarde to BIS board meetings and cannot accept any fee offered by the BIS. The central bank stated that Lagarde's case is different, as her role as a BIS board member involves "participation in BIS governance decisions, undertaking governance responsibilities and related legal risks. Due to these responsibilities, the president receives remuneration paid by the BIS."
The ECB added that staff members participating in BIS activities "do not have comparable governance and legal responsibilities [to Lagarde] and therefore, according to staff regulations, cannot accept remuneration for these activities."
Sources with knowledge of the matter told the FT that Lagarde followed the practice of her predecessors, Mario Draghi and Jean-Claude Trichet, who also received the BIS allowance. Draghi and Trichet declined to comment.
The central bank added that staff members can receive pay "for external activities unrelated to their duties at the ECB and outside the ECB, provided they have received prior written permission and perform them in their free time." In a "very limited" number of cases, such permissions were granted for BIS projects covering fields different from "ECB duties," the institution added.
Complaints over working conditions
The criticism from ECB personnel reflects broader concerns regarding the institution's internal governance. Last summer, the bank's staff committee accused the leadership of operating an "uncontrolled legal fortress." The ECB's treatment of staff had led to "widespread complaints of nepotism... high rates of professional burnout and the vulnerability of many colleagues working on temporary contracts."
In October, the union representing ECB staff filed a lawsuit against the institution, accusing it of "censorship" and "intimidation" in the latest escalation of a bitter dispute over labor relations.
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