The compensation ratio at Royal Bank of Scotland’s global banking and markets business reached its highest level since the financial crisis as revenues from both sales and trading and corporate finance crashed while staff pay remained broadly flat.

The comp to revenue ratio at RBS's global banking and markets unit was 40% in the third quarter, up from 32% in the previous quarter and 35% in the same period last year. For the first nine months of the year the ratio stands at 34% compared to 25% in the same period in 2009.