LAST year may have been a bad one for many of America's financial institutions (and the government and taxpayers that bailed them out), but it seems it was a good one for their employees. Those still in a job pocketed an average bonus of $123,850 in 2009, according to initial estimates using tax returns by the Office of the New York State Comptroller. A total of $20.3 billion was paid out to bankers and other securities-industry workers, 17% more than in 2008. Profits were on course to bounce back to $55 billion, after combined losses for Wall Street's finance houses of $43 billion in 2008.

AFP