Nelson Chai, the former chief financial officer of NYSE Euronext, who yesterday followed his former boss John Thain to Merrill Lynch, is to receive a minimum bonus of $2.5m (€1.7m) after only three weeks at the world's largest stock exchange.

The US investment bank said in a regulatory filing yesterday Chai, who quit from the world's largest exchange group just last week, will receive a "guaranteed" $2.5m, half in stock and half in cash, for this year. His salary for next year will be $600,000.