Last year marked the end for whopping cash bonuses – at least for some time. But rest assured that banks will still offer big incentives to their best and brightest. The trick will be to keep compensation beneath the radar of governments, shareholders and the baying public.

Various solutions are being bandied about. Credit Suisse is paying its bankers in securities whose worth derives from a $5bn pool of complex assets. UBS plans to pay its bankers cash in escrow, which can be whittled back should the bank lose money; the bonus then becomes a malus. Another idea is to increase drastically the proportion of bonuses paid in stock.