Cash bonuses paid to New York City securities industry employees fell an estimated 14% last year to a combined $19.7 billion, New York state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said Wednesday.
The lower bonuses reflected lower profits by Wall Street firms, Mr. DiNapoli said in an interview, adding the changes in compensation remain linked to the “fallout from the financial crisis.”
Profits for broker-dealer firms, which Mr. DiNapoli said is a traditional measure of securities industry profitability, was an estimated $13.5 billion last year, down from $27.6 billion in 2010 and $61.4 billion in 2009, according to a news release issued Wednesday by his office.
Mr. DiNapoli's latest annual analysis of cash bonuses paid to securities industry employees who work in New York City is an estimate because the traditional bonus-payment season runs from January through March. Mr. DiNapoli said the 2011 aggregate figures as well as the figures for 2010 — in which there were $22.8 billion in bonuses, up 2% from 2009 — are subject to revision.
The news release also said the average cash bonus fell 13% to $121,150 in 2011. The average bonus declined slightly less than the total cash bonus pool “because the pool was shared among fewer workers than in 2010,” the news release said.
Mr. DiNapoli's bonus analysis excludes bonuses paid by New York City-based firms to employees located outside of the city.
“The estimate is based on personal income tax trends and reflects cash bonuses and deferred compensation for which taxes have been withheld,” the news release said. “The estimate does not include stock options or other forms of deferred compensation that have not been realized.”
