Wall Street bonuses jump 10% in 2020, says NY state comptroller

Reuters2021-03-26

March 26 (Reuters) - The average bonus paid to employees in New York City's securities industry in 2020 rose by 10% to $184,000, a top New York state financial regulator said in a statement on Friday.

"Wall Street's near-record year shattered all expectations," New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.

"The early forecast of a disastrous year for financial markets was sharply reversed by a boom in underwriting activity, historically low interest rates, and surges in trading spurred by volatile markets," he added.

The 2020 bonus pool increased by 6.8% to $31.7 billion, during the traditional December-March bonus season, from $29.7 billion in 2019, according to the report, which called the growth figure "unique after a recessionary event".

Bonuses fell by 33% in 2001 after 9/11 attack and by 47% percent in 2008, the report said.

Compensation firm Johnson Associates Inc in November said it expected year-end bonuses for most Wall Street workers to decline in 2020 compared with 2019 due to the impact of the COVID-19 impact on the U.S. economy.

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