In 2013, JPMorgan paid London markets professionals $559k each. Citigroup, $384k

Once upon a time, it was easy to establish how much JPMorgan paid its investment bankers. The company broke out compensation and its headcount for its investment bank on a quarterly basis and everyone knew what its investment bankers were on. Not any more. A few years ago, JPMorgan obfuscated pay figures for its investment bank by lumping it together with its corporate bank. As a result, average compensation in the unit is massaged down by lower pay for JPMorgan's corporate banking staff.

Pay at Citigroup's institutional clients group is equally opaque. When Citi reports its quarterly and annual results, it doesn't break out how many people it employs in the unit. And nor does it break out how much it pays them.

Fortunately, however, both Citi and JPM have just filed accounts for the year ending December 2013 for their European markets businesses in London. Known as JPMorgan Securiites and Citigroup Global Markets respectively, these businesses offer a detailed breakdown of both pay and headcount. Both pay well. JPMorgan Securities pays best.

Pay at JPMorgan Securities in 2013

In 2013, JPMorgan Securities paid its average London-based employee a total of $559k (£329k). This was up 2% on 2012 and comprised of an average salary of $441k and an average stock bonus of $178k.

We assume that the salary figure includes JPMorgan Securities' cash bonuses...

Pay at Citigroup Global Markets in 2013

Over the same period, Citigroup Global Markets paid its average employee a total of $384k (£226k). This was down 1% on 2012 and comprised an average salary of $325k plus an average stock bonus of $59k. Again, we assume that the salary figure includes Citigroup's cash bonuses...

Painful P&L

JPMorgan's persistently high pay came despite a 26% reduction in profits at its London-based securities unit last year. Citigroup's global markets business made a loss of $234m in 2013, down from a loss of $351m in 2012. Unconfirmed rumour has it that the bank likes to book its losses in London however....

Both Citi and JPM have been cutting from their London markets businesses. Citi ended 2013 with 169 fewer people. JPM ended the year 69 people down.