Although banks have sought to deflect anger about the issue, the figures that are likely to be disclosed will still be controversial at a time when a number of large institutions have only recently been in receipt of billions of dollars of taxpayers’ cash, the publication said.

A taste of the political furore likely to accompany the bonus season came on Sunday from Christina Romer, who heads President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. She called the prospect of big new Wall Street bonuses “outrageous” and cited the payouts as a further reason to pursue the administration’s financial reform package, which is before congress.

The banks – some of which carry large wealth management operations – saw profits rebound last year as stock markets, buoyed by the huge injections of central bank new money, rallied strongly after March.

JP Morgan is due to issue its latest corporate results this Friday, with other banks following suit in the coming weeks.