The investment bank reported that profits surged to $3.19bn (£1.97bn) in the third quarter from $845m in the same period in 2008, when the financial system was close to meltdown. The profits beat the estimate of Wall Street analysts.

Due to a strong performance from its credit and fixed-income businesses in the quarter, Goldman is setting aside $5.35bn in pay and bonuses for its staff for this quarter. Goldman generated revenues of $12bn.

Analysts reckon that Goldman, historically the most profitable bank on Wall Street, is on track to deliver total pay and bonuses in excess of $22bn.

The news comes a day after rival bank JPMorgan disclosed it is on track to hand out bonuses totalling $29bn this year and will further ignite the debate about pay and incentives in the City, which many politicians argue helped caused the crisis that tipped the world into recession.

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