Ken Lewis, chairman and chief executive of Bank of America, saw his pay nearly triple in 2002 while Ed Brown, head of the investment banking division, also enjoyed a pay rise in spite of lower profits in his businesses.

Lewis was paid $18.2m (€17m) in cash and stock - up from $6.5m in 2001 and from $2.5m in 2000. On top of that he was awarded options valued at $2.7m taking his total package above that earned by James Cayne, chief executive of Bear Stearns.