Bank of America Corp. approved more than $4 billion in 2009 pay for its investment bankers and traders, meaning those workers will collect an average of $300,000 to $500,000 for the year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The payout represents about 19% of the roughly $23 billion in revenue generated by investment-banking and capital-markets activities, this person said. The 2009 average will be close to what the bank paid during its peak compensation year of 2006, this person said. The ratio of bonuses to total revenue was 27% during that year, with investment bankers and traders receiving a total of $6.5 billion.

A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment about bonuses paid to specific workers for their 2009 performance. "We tried in determining year end compensation to balance the need to pay competitively with the need to recognize the general concerns about the level of compensation on Wall Street," he said.

Unlike some rivals, Bank of America doesn't disclose bonuses for its investment bankers, who typically are among the highest-paid employees at the nation's largest bank in assets. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said last month it set aside $9.3 billion for its investment-banking employees, or $378,600 per person.

Bank of America's investment-banking and global-markets units were top performers, fueling the company's overall net income of $6.3 billion. The investment-banking unit has stabilized following several high-profile departures in early 2009 as the bank absorbed securities firm Merrill Lynch & Co.