JP Morgan Chase sets aside $5.8 billion to pay investment bankers for six months

Wall Street banking group JP Morgan Chase has put aside $5.8 billion in the first six months of the year to pay its investment bankers around the world. Even though revenue in the investment banking arm is down 7% on last year, the bonus pool is only 3% lower and excludes a $550 million charged incurred in the second quarter to pay Alistair Darling's bonus tax. When Darling was chancellor he slapped a one-off tax on bonuses which raised £2bn. His successor George Osborne has not repeated the tax. The compensation expense as a percentage of total net revenue in the investment bank was 36%, slightly lower than the 38% recorded in the first half of 2009. The ratio is also lower than the 43% the bank reported for 2006, before the credit crunch sparked a debate about the amount of revenue banks use to pay their bankers through salaries and annual bonuses.