The New York State Assembly issued a report on Wednesday that estimated that Wall Street bonuses could be down by around 41.3% this year.

Although provisions for bonuses allocated by many US and European firms in the first three quarters of 2008 appear to suggest that bonuses will come down, on average, some 30%, there's likely to be some bonus pot clawback in the final quarter, which will result in financial markets professionals taking home significantly less than that on the bonus front this year. Here Is The City publisher Vic Daniels said: 'Many bankers appear to have accepted that they will be looking at bonus cuts of around 30% this year, but the reality is that the cuts will be even steeper. The fourth-quarter is likely to be a disaster for firms, and many will post losses for the period. If you end up getting your bonus cut by only 30% this year, you'll have done very well'.

US compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates says that M&A bankers and fixed income professionals are likely to see bonuses cut by between 35 - 45% this year. Michael Karp, CEO of executive search firm Options Group, says that top talent is likely to take a bonus hit of up to 30%, whilst everyone else will see their bonus payouts down between 45 - 75%. Senior firm executives, like Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein (who bagged $68m last year) are likely to see their bonuses fall by as much as 70%.

Not all those who actually got a decent bonus last year are likely to hold onto it. The Times reports that UBS has confirmed that it has looked into the matter of getting former senior executives to return bonuses they were awarded in previous years. The Swiss bank plans to update shareholders on the matter at a meeting scheduled for later this month.

Finally, Bloomberg reports that most of the firms New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has written to seeking details of their year-end bonus numbers have told him that they can't provide them yet - as they haven't firmed them up.

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