New York: Bank of America (BoA) Corp will pay its investment bankers bonuses close to the levels of 2007, as it tries to reduce defections following its takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co., the Wall Street Journal reported.
Citing sources, the paper said on its website late on Thursday that some bankers were expected to receive bonuses equal to what they got in 2007, but the overall average was likely to be "somewhat" lower.
Under the basic formula likely to be used, about 25 per cent of 2009 bonuses will be paid in cash, with the rest as deferred payments of stock or cash that will vary in value with the company's performance, the Journal said. Portions of pay for many executives would be subject to clawbacks in the event of future losses, the report added.
Some of the deferred stock would be in the form of "phantom units" subject to fluctuations in the bank's share performance and available in increments over a three-year period.
Bankers expect to be told about their pay in late January or early February. The amounts will be awarded in mid-February.
BoA, which received $45 billion in federal bailout money at the height of the financial crisis, was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over accusations it misled shareholders over the bonuses paid by Merrill during the final months of 2008.
