LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Most managers at HSBC's UK retail and wealth unit will not be getting a pay rise thisyear, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, inwhat marks the bank's third change to pay policy in as manyweeks.
The lender plans to largely base the managers' pay rises onperformance standards but about 80 percent of staff will not beable to meet those standards, the source said, so it iseffectively reinstating a pay freeze announced in January.
The latest change was first reported by the Financial Timeson Wednesday.
Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver sent a memo to staff on Feb.11, saying the bank had dropped the plans to freeze pay afterreceiving staff feedback on the plan and the way it wascommunicated.
Gulliver said at the time that Europe's biggest bank wouldfind another way to achieve significant cost reduction targetsfor the end of 2017.
"HSBC makes pay awards around the world based on performanceand merit, taking into account any local considerations," a bankspokesman said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
Worries about global growth have heaped pressure on thebanking sector in recent months, forcing many big lenders tomake sweeping cost cuts.
Swiss bank UBS is imposing a pay freeze across itsinvestment banking arm, two sources familiar with the mattertold Reuters this month, while Deutsche Bank said inJanuary it had scrapped board bonuses this year after posting arecord loss for 2015. (Reporting by Richa Naidu and Jane Merriman; Editing by SusanFenton)