Wall Street Pays Out Billions in Record Compensation: Report

Agence France-Presse via commondreams.org
October 12, 2010

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/10/12-2

WASHINGTON - Financial institutions on Wall Street are
preparing to pay a record 144 billion dollars in compensation
and benefits, according to a study published Tuesday in the
Wall Street Journal [1].

[Traders jump for joy on the floor of the New York Stock
Exchange. According to a new report, total Wall Street pay
and bonuses are on track to break a record high for the
second year in a row. (Drew/AP)]Traders jump for joy on the
floor of the New York Stock Exchange. According to a new
report, total Wall Street pay and bonuses are on track to
break a record high for the second year in a row. (Drew/AP)
The payout, covering bonuses, premiums and stock options for
the firm's executives and employees, is a four-percent raise
over the previous record 139 billion dollars that was handed
over in 2009, said the financial daily.

The study, which covers 35 Wall Street firms -- including
banks, investment banks, hedge funds and money managing
groups -- found that 29 of the institutions were also
expected to see revenue rise by three percent, from 433 to
448 billion dollars.

The 2010 profit for the firms of some 61 billion dollars is
still a 20 percent decline on the 82 billion dollars in 2006
-- despite in that time compensation at the institutions
soared 23 percent, according to the Journal.

Wall Street banks and funds have already come under withering
criticism for their actions during the 2008 financial crisis
and faced the fury of the US public for paying out huge
bonuses even though some were propped up by taxpayer funds to
keep afloat.

In June US authorities announced guidelines aimed at
countering pay and bonus practices blamed for the excessive
risk taking that fueled the global financial crisis.

The rules, however, did not prohibit any specific forms of
payment for incentive compensation or establish mandatory
compensation levels or caps.

(c) 2010 Agence France-Presse
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