The idea that bonuses could disappear, as the authorities wish, is seen as a joke in the City
Bonuses have been inflated by a poaching war as firms that have survived in good shape, such as Barclays, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, snaffle top talent. Typically, they are hiring rainmakers on one-year guaranteed deals, with the highest earners in line for between $1 million or $2 million, regardless of whether they generate any business.
This is a far cry from the boom years when the same people could expect to earn five times that but the packages will still be seen as excessive when banks are under pressure to scrap large bonuses. It's no different from Premiership football where those who score goals command the most. Those in the "Ronaldo" category, making recent moves include Basil Geoghegan, who left Goldman for Deutsche Bank, Jonathan Grundy, who joined Credit Suisse from Merrill Lynch, and Jim Renwick, whom Barclays Capital poached from UBS.
Not to be caught out, victims of these poaching raids are responding by handing out retention bonuses - one or two-year deals to hold onto staff. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is understood to have paid its corporate broking teams bonuses to stay, while UBS, Europe's biggest casualty of the credit crunch, is said to have also paid up to stop rivals nabbing its best people.
The idea that bonuses could disappear, as the authorities wish, is seen as a joke in the City. Regulators insist that pay reform is on the way, and last week the Financial Services Authority's three-month consultation over its pay recommendations closed. However, whatever the FSA says, the premium on star names will remain. In an industry reliant upon contacts and relationships, they are the banks' lifeblood. The banks will always find a way to attract and reward them. Bonuses have not only not been away, they are not going anywhere.
