Where pay in the past has been 10% to 20% fixed income, or salary, and 80% to 90% variable income, or bonus, most banks are raising salaries to reduce the bonus portion.
Dornan's class action alleges that at least since 1990 variable annuity underwriters and Morgan Stanley maintained "secret contingent fee sharing arrangements" in which a portion of commission revenue was paid to the brokerage as an incentive to sell the product.