Neil Owen, City manager for Robert Half Finance, one of the Square Mile's leading recruiters of back-office staff, said finance workers were expecting bonuses of between 15 and 25 per cent of annual salary. "The majority of banks seem to be doing pretty well," he said. "A lot of people use their bonuses as a down payment on a house or a car, or a family holiday."A recent survey by Morgan McKinley, the recruitment consultants, showed that nearly three-quarters of City workers expect this year's bonuses to be higher than last year's, while almost a quarter think their pay-outs will more than double from last year.On Wall Street, the most successful bankers are likely to take home bonuses which are 12 times what they earn in basic pay, while the most modest windfalls will still be double basic salary, according to the executive search firm Options Group.The huge payouts may well fuel sales of expensive cars, holidays and lavish entertainment One Wall Street insider said: "The mood is pretty festive. Simon Robey, the head of Morgan Stanley's UK business, and Bob Wigley, who runs Merrill Lynch's Europe, Middle East and Africa division, are believed to be on course for £5m each.Away from the star performers, thousands of operations and finance staff at the investment banks can also look forward to the City bonus bonanza. Securities firms typically allocate almost 50 per cent of their revenue, after interest expenses, for compensation.Some estimate that Michael Sherwood, who is co-head of Goldman's European division, is in line for a £10m bonus, while Richard Sharp, the head of the European private-equity business, could get £5m.

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Goldman set aside $9.2bn for pay and bonuses in the first nine months of the year, up 30 per cent from last year, while the number of staff has risen just 6 per cent. In the last bonus season, from December to April, financial payouts were £1bn higher than in the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics, which does not publish a total figure.Employees of Goldman Sachs, which last month reported an 84 per cent increase in third-quarter earnings to a record $1.62bn (£920m), are tipped to have the largest pay day, while Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers have also enjoyed a good year. But in August and September, interest was 9 per cent higher than we expect this time of year - well above normal. No doubt we've seen an upturn in interest of City money."While hard figures are hard to come by - banks never reveal how much they are paying out - it is a safe bet that hundreds of City bankers, the star performers, will get bonuses of at least £1m each The total bonus pool runs to billions of pounds. Both markets were quite weak at the back end of last year and the beginning of this year. The upmarket estate agent Knight Frank has seen a marked upturn in enquiries for houses between £1m and £2m from City bankers, who are already plotting how to spend their multi-million pound bonuses months before they have been paid out.Liam Bailey, the head of residential research at Knight Frank, said: "People are either buying a big pad in London or moving out into the country and commuting.

Derivatives traders and deal makers are expected to get the biggest payouts this year, trumping their colleagues in fixed income who pocketed the lion's share of the bonus pool during the recent downturn in equity markets. That means some areas of London and the South-west could soon see signs of a housing boom again. The volume of corporate activity in Britain has reached its highest level since 2001. Investment bankers in the City are looking forward to their best bonuses for four years as they reap their rewards from buoyant stock markets and an upsurge in mergers and acquisitions. Landround added 4.5p to 119.5p as three directors at the voucher promotions group spent £15,000 on buying stock. Innovata ticked 0.5p higher to 26p on talk the biotech is close to securing a global licensing deal for its Adept adhesions product.. It is likely to be a bumper Christmas for London's City and New York's Wall Street, with bankers holding their breath for hefty bonuses, reflecting the record profits most of the blue-chip financial firms have notched up in 2005.