Bankers Still Rake in the Billions

Banking giant Morgan Stanley, employer of 6000 staff in the UK, put aside $14.4bn for staff benefits and compensation in 2009, an increase of 31%. The firm posted annual profits of $1.3bn in the 12 months to December 31, from a loss of $246m in 2008.
Chief executive James Gorman said employees had “delivered substantially improved financial performance”. Meanwhile, bank of America Merrill Lynch reported full-year losses of £1.4bn after it repaid the US government’s £27.6bn bail-out. It has set aside £29.9bn to cover bad loans.