Piraeus Bank has approved an 86.7% increase in the fixed annual salary of Chief Executive Christos Megalou, raising his gross annual base pay from €750,000 to a range of €1.2 million to €1.4 million from 2026.
The decision, which has been filed with Greece's General Commercial Registry, is accompanied by an independent KPMG report concluding that the adjustment is fair and reasonable for both the bank and its shareholders.
According to the KPMG assessment, the final amount within the approved range will be determined by the bank's non-executive directors. The salary adjustment is stipulated under Megalou's employment contract and is tied to compensation benchmarks for comparable executives in Greece and across Europe.
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To support its recommendation, KPMG conducted a benchmarking study covering 31 large listed companies and European banks selected from an initial universe of 48 businesses based on criteria including size, revenue and total assets. The analysis relied on publicly available executive compensation data for the 2025 financial year.
The study found that the proposed salary remains below the third quartile of the peer group, which stands at €1.53 million. The median fixed annual pay for chief executives in the comparison group was €811,915. Within the sample, CEO fixed salaries ranged from €180,000 to €4.6 million, placing the proposed compensation for Piraeus Bank's chief executive in the middle-to-upper end of the distribution rather than at its peak.
KPMG also noted that Megalou receives no additional remuneration for serving on the bank's board of directors. The report cites several factors supporting the increase, including the expansion of the chief executive's responsibilities, the integration of insurance operations into Piraeus Bank's business model, the continued development of the digital bank Snappi, and the execution of the group's broader digital transformation strategy. Based on its comparative analysis, KPMG concluded that the revised compensation package is consistent with prevailing market practice and represents a fair and reasonable arrangement for the bank and its shareholders.
