Lehman Brothers is offering investment bankers a chance to earn up to $10,000 (€8,560) by referring potential new recruits to the company, in a sign that the good times may be on their way back.

The incentive could provide a useful pre-Christmas boost to bankers' year-end bonuses, when many have seen their packages shrink in the deal drought.

Lehman has put a price of $10,000 on the head of any potential vice-president, a mid-rank title in US investment banks, with more junior employees valued at a smaller amount.

Investment banks have not offered inducements to employees as a way of enticing talent since the boom years of the late 1990s.