Greedier than ever: Wall Street bankers to pocket record-breaking $91 BILLION just two years on from financial crisis



Wall Street firms will hand out £91billion in salaries, bonuses and perks, according to research published yesterday.

The payouts – 4 per cent up on last year and 24 per cent up on 2006 – come just two years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the near meltdown of the financial system.

A pay report by America’s Wall Street Journal shows that 26 of the U.S. financial centre’s leading 35 firms are planning to increase pay this year – even though one in ten Americans is jobless and a second recession is possible.

Who wants some? Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange are likely to see their pay and bonuses climb to record levels

Source: The figures come from a survey by The Wall Street Journal

The bonanza is likely to infuriate President Barack Obama and U.S. taxpayers, who have bailed out the banking industry with billions of dollars.



It could also escalate the bonus ‘arms race’ in the City of London, where pay is closely tied to awards on Wall Street.

Workers in the Square Mile are expected to share a bonanza windfall of some £7billion this year, rising to­ ­£10billion by 2014, according to the Centre for ­Economics and Business Research.

Greed: The majority of Wall Street workers expected their earnings to rise by up to 50 per cent compared to 2009, despite the economic crisis



