When the credit squeeze struck last summer, the widespread view on Wall Street and in the City of London was that the five-year boom in investment banking bonuses had come to an end. If large banks had suffered losses, it seemed logical that their highly-paid employees would share the pain.

The reality is likely to be more complicated. Though several institutions have not yet reported their results, it increasingly looks as if the bonus pot shared between employees of the world’s largest investment banks will be larger than ever before.