British pay packets exceed those in US

Specialist bankers in Britain are dwarfing the pay packets of their US counterparts with average bonuses of £1.5 million.

The typical £1.6m pay and bonus received in Britain compares with £1.1m in the US and £1m in Asia.

The bankers whose pay exceeded that of their American rivals work in the area known as exotics, which includes work transforming existing credit packages into new products.