Citigroup staff get 50 per cent pay rises to beat cuts in bonus

Stricken banking giant Citigroup was today planning to raise base salaries for employees by 50% to compensate for the sharp reduction in annual bonuses.

The Wall Street firm, which has hundreds of thousands of staff worldwide including almost 10,000 in Canary Wharf in London, was ordered to curb its bonus payments after a $45 billion bailout by the US government.

A host of other US banks were also told to abandon bonuses after taking money from the Troubled Asset Relief Programme but many, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, have repaid the funds and are now free to make lavish payouts.

It has left Citi and other apparently weak banks fighting to retain their best staff.

The biggest pay rises at Citi will go to investment bankers and traders while workers in consumer banking, credit cards, legal and risk management will see smaller increases.

"Citi continues to examine ways to ensure its employees compensation practices are competitive in this very challenging market environment," said Citi spokesman Stephen Cohen.

"Any salary adjustments are not intended to increase total annual compensation, rather to adjust the balance between fixed and variable compensation."