Bankers On Wall Street And In The City Are Bracing Themselves For A Feeble Bonus Season

TheWomblefootfreak, Youtube

Bankers at the major investment banks on each side of the Atlantic are going to see shallower bonus pools this year, according to the Financial Times, citing a number of sources from big financial institutions.

Here's the FT:

One finance officer at a large Wall Street bank said it had been difficult to satisfy the warring parties: mergers and acquisitions and equity underwriting enjoyed a good year but these advisory bankers never suffered the same bonus cuts as traders so they should not expect a big rebound in payouts.

In London people close to big City investment banks such as Deutsche Bank and Barclays said their bonus pools had been hit by weaker fixed-income trading figures and the impact of a European bonus cap.

The European Union's bonus cap, which was fought fiercely by the UK's Treasury, means that nobody can earn more than 100% of their existing salary as a bonus without the approval of shareholders. Even then, the limit is 200%.

Goldman's latest publicly announced figures showed bonuses for senior staff in London up more than 80% between 2011 and 2013, and paying twice as much as other US investment banks. However, according to the FT Goldman's salary and bonus pool this year is likely to shrink to 38% of revenues, around the lowest level in its years as a publicly traded firm.

PwC also told the FT that they estimate bonuses are down by about half since the financial crisis.