Our bonuses are on the up, say bankers

The age of the City mega-bonus really is back, according to a survey of bankers which found almost two thirds expect their payout to match or beat last year's package, with one in ten predicting a record windfall.

Having survived the biggest economic downturn since the 1930s, a third of all traders, analysts and fund managers in the City and elsewhere in Europe said they expect a fatter bonus this year, according to a quarterly poll by Bloomberg.

By comparison 40% of Asia's moneymen expect a bigger pay out, while only 30% of American bankers believe their 2009 bonus would be higher than last year.

That suggests President Obama's pay czar Ken Feinberg — who has the job of approving pay rates for executives at bailed out firms — is having some success in his remit of slashing massive pay-outs.

Feinberg claims he had cut overall pay by half and slashed bonuses by 90% for the top 25 executives at state-aided firms including AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America, GM and Chrysler.

The survey of banker attitudes also found that almost half of European financiers believe government attempts to limit compensation will help control financial risk-taking.

By contrast, only 27% of US respondants said that pay cuts would have the desired effect.