The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression - but even as world sheds jobs, bank boyz get pay rises

BLOOMBERG: Bank of America Corp., which bought Merrill Lynch & Co., said in March it may boost salaries as a proportion of total compensation.

SHOOT: Don't be surprised is someone lobs a coke bottle filled with petrol and a rag through a window at your local Goldman or JP branch.

BLOOMBERG: The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has led to more than $1.52 trillion in writedowns and credit losses and more than 328,000 job cuts across the worldwide financial industry.

clipped from www.bloomberg.com July 24 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- largest U.S. bank by assets, will increase salaries for investment bankers, making their pay more competitive after rivals took similar steps, a person familiar with the firm said. JPMorgan’s investment bank is having a record year, with revenue in the first half of $15.7 billion. In the first six months of 2009, the unit set aside $6.01 billion for employees’ compensation, equal to 38 percent of revenue in the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. allocated $11.4 billion, or 49 percent of revenue, and Morgan Stanley put aside $5.91 billion, or 71 percent of the half-year revenue, for employee salaries, bonuses and benefits. All three firms have returned government capital, removing them from restrictions on how they pay their workers. Citigroup has yet to repay any of the $45 billion in government funds it received.