Bank bonuses unabated, report says

ALBANY, N.Y., July 31 (UPI) -- The economic collapse and massive bailouts did not stop Wall Street bankers from taking home billions of dollars in bonus checks, a New York State study said.

The report issued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on the eve of a vote in Washington that would give regulators limited, but unprecedented authority over some pay practices, said nine firms that received $165 billion in federal bailout funds paid $32 billion in bonus checks to employees in 2008.

At Goldman Sachs, 1,037 employees received checks for more than $1 million, including 78 who took home more than $5 million and six who took home more than $10 million.

Citigroup, recipient of $45 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds it has yet to return, doled out more than $790 million in bonus checks to 785 employees, the study said.

The study, titled, "No Rhyme Or Reason: The Heads I Win, Tails You Lose Bank Bonus Culture," said the compensations system is divorced from the economy at large and the profit-taking at individual firms.

"When the banks did very poorly, they were bailed out by taxpayers and their employees were still paid well," the report said.