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Wall Street cash bonuses are forecast to have risen in 2012 to their highest since 2010 but still be below pre-crisis levels, New York state's comptroller said on Tuesday.

The securities industry's bonus pool was expected to total $20 billion, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said, up 8 percent from 2011 but below levels seen in 2006 and 2007, before the financial crisis.

The Comptroller's estimate is based on personal income tax trends. It reflects cash bonuses and deferred pay for which taxes have been withheld. The estimate does not include stock options or other forms of deferred compensation.