The true size of the bonus pools at RBS and UBS

The weekend was replete with bonuses. Whether it was Bob Diamond's ('up to 9.5m'), Stuart Gulliver's ('up to 10m'), or Stephen Hester's (just 2m), bonus saturation was reached.

Buried in the news about executive bonuses was news about bonuses for everyone else.

The UBS bonus pool

Following last week's revelation that UBS was struggling to allocate its bonus pool, Sonntag said the total bonus pool across the bank will amount to CHF4.3bn this year, a 12% reduction from CHF4.8bn last year.

As far as we're aware, UBS hasn't increased its investment banking salaries since 2009, suggesting the overall compensation pool for the investment bank will be down too.

The RBS bonus pool

Separately, the Financial Times said RBS's bonus pool has been reduced by 27%, to 950m, suggesting an average bonus of around 44k for people at RBS Global Banking and Markets.

The FT claimed that 200 people at RBS will earn more than 1m this year. At Lloyds, there are 9 people earning more than 3.4m. The UK government would like to pay everyone at nationalised banks less, but is restricted by an existing contract guaranteeing it will pay in line with the market.