Thomas Montag, the former head of global banking and markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch who was promoted to co-chief operating officer last September, was the highest-paid banker at the US firm for the second consecutive year in 2011.

Montag received a total pay package of $12m for 2011, according to a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, $5m more than the bank's chief executive Brian Moynihan.