Seven senior executives at Bear Stearns have been given permission to sell a total of $30m (€22.8m) of shares from their employee stock awards as Wall Street banks have been paying out record bonuses this year.

James Cayne, chairman and chief executive, can sell $7.7m of shares but will still own a 5.2% stake in the bank which is worth more than $1bn at the current share price of $165, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.