The start of what is forecast to be a painful bonus season for some at the world's biggest investment banks has begun, with Citigroup and Morgan Stanley kicking things off in the City ahead of US rivals Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

Citi is announcing bonuses to staff alongside its fourth-quarter results on January 15, with Morgan Stanley having communicated bonus figures to its employees a day earlier. People familiar with the matter said that "nobody was expecting a good result" at Citi, with one capital markets banker concerned about a 10% to 15% fall.