NY comptroller: Street bonuses will set record

Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y.

New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says cash bonuses on Wall Street may be even larger this year than after last year’s record performance for the financial center.

DiNapoli’s analysis shows Wall Street is on course for its fourth-best year ever, with profits exceeding $19 billion.

That’s well short of last year’s record $61 billion profit. But Wall Street firms may still dole out bigger individual bonus checks this year because of continued staff cutting.

In 2009, nine of the nation’s biggest financial firms paid individual bonuses of $1 million or more to nearly 5,000 employees.

New York state government depends on the financial sector to provide 20 percent of its tax revenue.