London bankers’ bonuses to shrink by up to 9%

London bankers’ bonuses for 2015 are likely to fall by up to 9% on average from a year earlier after revenues slid in the second half of this year, a study yesterday showed.

A firm called Emolument, which benchmarks salaries across the industry, said bonuses for traders and other staff in fixed income, commodities, and currencies were likely to fall about 9% from payments made for 2014.

Equities traders and staff could buck the trend, however, and see a 2% to 3% rise in bonuses after a recovery in volumes from a weak performance in 2014, the survey said.

Revenues at investment banks are expected to fall 2% from 2014. Bonuses typically reflect those trends, but banks are under pressure to cut costs.

New Deutsche Bank chief executive John Cryan said last month pay in the industry was still too high.

“With ever more restricted bonus pools, it may be that doughnuts [zero bonuses] become more commonplace,” said Emolument’s Alice Leguay.

Bonuses for bankers, typically paid between January and March, remain comparatively high.

Emolument estimated a managing director in equities can expect to get a bonus of £361,000 (€500,700), while directors across the investment bank should get £114,000 to £151,000 and associates can expect £28,000 to £32,000.

Pay on Wall Street is expected to follow a similar pattern to Europe.