This year's bonus season in the US was such an embarrassment of riches that the biggest problem facing bankers was not how much to pay their staff but how to manage their expectations.
In a year in which merger activity topped $4 trillion (€3 trillion) and investment banks, such as JP Morgan, pulled in more than $1bn in fees from private equity firms alone, giddiness infected many bankers â and not just the ones who earned the big money.
