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Banking Bonuses Rose 17% in 2009

Published: Feb 23, 2010

 Finance       
While it's true as everyone and their broker's mother is reporting today that Wall Street bonuses were up 17 percent in 2009 versus 2008, do not forget that 2008 was the worst year perhaps in Wall Street's history, and thus the $20.3 billion in bonuses paid last year represented a 47 percent fall when compared to the $32.9 billion in bonuses paid in 2007.

Still, the northbound trend is good news for the good folks of the financial sector (if not a tad disheartening for those in other sectors still struggling and/or out of work), and this stat is an encouraging one as well: Although securities firms cut 31,500 employees from November 2007 to August 2009, they increased their headcounts by nearly 4,000 from August 2009 through the end of 2009.

It's also necessary to point out that many big chiefs did not take bonuses this year (including RBS CEO Stephen Hester who recently turned down more than a million pounds), meaning that the total Wall Street bonus number for 2009 could've been $ignificantly higher.

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