ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss upper house of parliament late on Monday narrowly backed a motion to limit bankers' total annual compensation to between 3 and 5 million Swiss francs ($3.4-5.7 million), a sum significantly below what the best-paid earn today.

By a vote of 21 in favour and 19 against, the measure initially proposed following the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse now moves to the lower house of parliament.

If the plan clears the lower house, Switzerland's ruling Federal Council must draft an amendment to change the law. The council had rejected the motion in 2023.

Whatever amendment the Federal Council drafts would then return to parliament, which is working on a raft of measures aimed at making the banking sector less risky.

How well remunerated executives should be in Switzerland has become a bigger issue since the demise of Credit Suisse, which dealt a serious blow to the country's reputation for business excellence and banking stability.

Following a state-engineered rescue, Credit Suisse was acquired by UBS, whose chief executive Sergio Ermotti had a pay package worth 14.4 million Swiss francs in 2023.

Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter later questioned the sums that some top executives earned, naming Ermotti.

($1 = 0.8797 Swiss francs)