JPMorgan paid more than 100 top staff £2.1m in 2012

Bank reported a record net income for the year of $21bn, up 12% on the previous year

JPMorgan is the biggest bank in the US (AP)

America’s biggest bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, paid more than 100 of its top staff in London an average of nearly £2.1 million each in 2012.

The bank reported a record net income for the year of $21 billion (£12.7 billion), up 12 per cent on the previous year despite fallout from multi-billion dollar losses incurred as a result of the “London Whale” trading scandal.

The average earnings figure for top staff was down from the 2011 figure of £2.2 million.

Salary payments to the 126 staff totalled £41,118,000 but they also received £222,758,000 in “variable remuneration” such as bonuses and shares.

The average payment when all forms of income were totalled was £2,094,000 each.

In September, JP Morgan was fined totalling $920 million (about £556 million) by regulators in the UK and US as a result of the London Whale case.

The bank’s London office was responsible for huge losses in derivative trades during the early part of 2012.

US and UK regulators penalised JP Morgan for failures from portfolio level up to senior management, deciding it had made fundamental errors in both its risk management and financial reporting systems.

Bankers’ bonuses and pay remain a controversial subject.

On Tuesday, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that some bankers did not seem to realise the effect of the 2008 economic downturn, largely attributed to the actions of the financial sector.

“I don't want to name names but I came across some people recently – senior members of the City from foreign organisations – who were very clearly still absolutely in denial about what happened in 2008,” the archbishop said.