(AGI) Rome, June 23 - The salaries of Italian bank CEOs fell14.18 percent in 2014, while the pay of the management of thelargest insurance companies edged up just 1.6 percent,according to research conducted by UILCA, the trade union forbanks, insurance, and tax collectors. The research shows thatthe decline in salaries of bank CEOs was "due in part to a 3.6million euro penalty paid to the former CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo,Enrico Cucchiani, for early termination of his contract in2013". However, despite this decline, the average pay of topmanagers was still 53 times higher than that of an employee.The pay of the new CEO of Carige has tripled since 2013 becauseit includes a 1.07 million incentive as one-time payment foracceptance of the role and the powers of a chief executive. Thefixed component for the salaries of bank executives accountedfor 80 percent of total remuneration, and among the 11 banks inthe sample, no CEO received a salary lower than 800,000 eurosin 2014. Bank CEOs were paid 53 times more than staff in 2014,compared to 62 times in 2013 and 53 in 2012. The presidents ofthe banks in 2014 earned the equivalent of 18 times the salaryof an employee, compared to 26 times in 2013 and 28 in 2012.The total remuneration of the presidents surveyed was down20.93 percent, primarily due to decreases for the presidents ofBanca Popolare di Sondrio and Banca Carige. The President ofMPS, Alessandro Profumo, was the only one to earn less than200,000 euros because he waived his fees. Banks profits were upin 2014 over the previous year, although the income statementswere influenced by adjustments to loans due to the assetquality review required by the European Central Bank, whichmeant that some banks recorded an operating loss. The pay ofthe CEOs of the five insurance companies listed on the MilanStock Exchange, subject to UILCA research, was up 1.6 percentfrom the previous year, 43.44 percent of which was variable and56.56 percent fixed. This composition is different from thebanking sector, where the variable share was 20 percent in2014. The total profit of the insurance companies analysed roseby 8 percent, as did the ratio between the average salary of aninsurance sector CEO compared to an employee, which was up from79 in 2013 to 81 in 2014. The CEOs of Italy's two largestcompanies have earnings equivalent to 148 and 106 times that ofan average employee. (AGI).