Credit Suisse First Boston, the investment bank, is understood to have offered an equity analyst at a rival firm a package that could earn him up to $4 million (Eur 3.64 million) in the first year.

The size of the package will come as a surprise to many on Wall Street who thought the good days for equity analysts were gone after the clampdown from regulators.

The offer has been made to Mr Nick Bertolotti, head of European media equity research at JP Morgan.

Mr Bertolotti has been ranked top in his area by the respected Institutional Investor magazine. He has been with JP Morgan for five years, having joined from Arthur Andersen, where he was an auditor.

Mr Bertolotti is believed to be in negotiations with his current employer and has not yet agreed to go.

It is also thought that two less senior members of his team are considering moving with him.

The offer is believed to include a guaranteed cash bonus for his first year worth $2 million. The balance is believed to consist of the amount of JP Morgan Chase stock that CSFB is willing to buy him out of.

That such sums should be available to a media analyst is also surprising.

So far this year in Europe, equity issuance in this sector is down by more than 50 per cent and merger and acquisitions activity is down by a similar amount.

The offer does not contravene a promise from Mr John Mack, head of CSFB, to do away with multi-year guarantees but it is nevertheless ironic that such a sum should be on offer from a firm that has worked so aggressively to axe costs.

Despite formally agreeing yesterday to pay $200 million to settle allegations including fraud from US regulators, the investment bank has made much more progress than many expected.

Since taking command in July 2001, Mr Mack has cut $3 billion in costs, lowered the headcount by 3,800 and moved CSFB away from potential harm.

He has cut loans, reduced trading risks and slashed problem assets in real estate, distressed debt and private equity investment.

It posted a net profit of $160 million for the first quarter, helped by booming fixed income business.

This compared with a net loss of $811 million for the fourth quarter and a loss of $1.2 billion last year.

Speaking at parent Credit Suisse's annual meeting last week, Mr Mack admitted that in the past the investment bank had "a cost structure that simply was not competitive with its peers" and that its "excessive levels of compensation were completely out of line with industry standards".

But he said that the bank had been "relentless" on cutting costs.

JP Morgan and CSFB both declined to comment.