Employees at Goldman Sachs investment bank are set to cash in on an average Christmas bonus of £319,000 each in January 2007, experts have predicted.
More than 4,000 City of London staff at the US bank are expected to receive £1m each after Goldman Sachs revealed it would pay out a staggering £8.3bn in salaries, bonuses and other financial incentives.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research said senior executives could also expect to be rewarded with £10m each in bonuses.
Goldman Sachs reported net profits of £4.8bn for the year to November 2006, up 70% from 2005.
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Bonuses at other investment banks, including Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers, are also expected to reach record levels after favourable financial market conditions and the increasing trend for mergers and acquisitions.
Goldman Sachs has about 5,000 staff in London and 26,467 worldwide.
