Record Payout for Banks in 2009

The government pumped the money into the banking sector, and the banking sector is booming.

Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their people about $145 billion for 2009, a record sum, reports Stephen Grocer at WSJ.

An analysis by WSJ shows that executives, traders, investment bankers, money managers and others at 38 top financial companies can expect to earn nearly 18% more than they did in 2008—and slightly more than in the record year of 2007.