Wall Street set to award record pay: report

US banks and securities firms could pay a record 140 billion dollars to its staff this year, a rebound in compensations that comes despite regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street pay culture, a report said Wednesday. Workers at 23 top investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers and stock and commodities exchanges can expect to earn even more than they did at the peak year of 2007, according to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal. It studied securities filings for the first half of 2009 and revenue estimates through year-end. Total compensation and benefits at publicly traded firms that the Journal analyzed were on track to increase 20 percent from last year's 117 billion dollars, and to top 2007's 130 billion dollar payout. This year, employees at the companies will earn an estimated 143,400 dollars on average, up almost 2,000 dollars from 2007 levels, it said.