Bank of America set aside more than $4bn (€2.9bn) for investment bankers and traders in 2009, enough to pay each of those workers an average of $300,000 to $500,000, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The payout represents about 19% of the roughly $23bn in revenue generated by investment banking and capital markets activities, this person said. The 2009 average will be close to what the bank paid during its peak compensation year of 2006, this person said. The ratio of bonuses to total revenue was 27% during that year.