Five years ago securities and investment firms paid out a record total of $25.6 billion in compensation. The 2009 mark is lower, but with Wall Street firms bringing in $55 billion in profits, bonuses are going up again after two years of decreases. According to figures released by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the average Wall Street bonus went up by 25% over the previous year, for a total bonus pool of $20.3 billion.

 

While welcoming the news for the New York economy, and claiming that the billion-dollar bonuses will “trickle down” to others, DiNapoli admitted the announcement might be “a bitter pill and hard to comprehend” for most Americans. He called for “tying compensation to long-term sustainable profits” to avoid a repeat of the risky behavior that nearly destroyed financial markets in 2008.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

DiNapoli: Wall Street Bonuses Rose Sharply in 2009 (Office of the New York State Comptroller)

New York City Securities Industry Bonus Pool (Office of the New York State Comptroller) (pdf)

Wall Street Bonuses Jumped 17% After Bailouts (Agence France-Presse)

Wall Street ’09 Bonuses Increase 17% (by Graham Bowley, New York Times)

Obama Defends Bank CEO Bonuses (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Big Banks Paid $32 Billion in Bonuses While Losing $81 Billion (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)