Many Said Leaving Morgan-Citi Venture

Morgan Stanley and Citigroup saw it coming, and now it's here: brokers at the firms' soon-to-be joint venture are opting out, many to rival firms.

The New York Post says competitors like UBS are poaching top performers with stratospheric bonuses, some of them as much as three times annual commissions. Some sources told the Post "the defections could reach 30 percent of the combined workforce. "

A bonus pool of between $2 and $3 billion has been set up to help keep people on board. The venture's brokers are due to learn details of their payouts by the end of this month. With Congress looking hard at any kind of bonus on Wall Street, it's hard to say whether that amount might be reduced. The Post says Congress is looking at retention bonuses, too.