wall street pay

Why is that so -- when the average worker hasn't enjoyed even a small raise? That's because Wall Street enjoys at least four major advantages that other industries can only dream about, including an implied backstop against losses by the federal government.

Bankers worldwide are expecting smaller bonuses this year. Still, they will be hard pressed to find much sympathy as their base salaries were boosted -- in some cases doubled -- this year to compensate for the lower year-end bonuses.

Morgan Stanley is reportedly planning to pay out 10% to 25% less in bonuses this year to its employees, an effort to cut costs as it deals with volatile market conditions. The cuts are slated to affect traders, back-office staff and other employee groups, but perhaps not unusually strong performers.

Pay on Wall Street is on pace to break a record high for a second consecutive year, growing an average of 4% in 2010 at the 35 top financial institutions and rising faster than revenues.

Two former brokers convicted of securities fraud won't have to return the $4.45 million signing bonus they received from Morgan Stanley, ruled an arbitration board.

A new report from pay czar Kenneth Feinberg looks at compensation practices at 17 banks that received federal bailouts, and it's not a pretty picture: The banks made an estimated $1.6 billion in "ill-advised" payments.

It would appear that France and Britain are on the same page when it comes to bankers' bonuses. Their leaders certainly are -- literally. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown co-wrote an opinion piece in Thursday's Wall Street Journal calling for governments...

Wall Street has a short memory when it comes to pay. That's what came to mind when I saw a report saying that many big leveraged buyouts (LBOs) are in trouble -- four of the 10 biggest companies bought in leveraged buyouts have stopped paying back the money they borrowed. Nevertheless, Wall Street...