For executives at Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc, it pays to be just below the top.

At both banks, investment banking heads received compensation that dwarfed their chief executive's pay.

Citigroup said its chief executive, Vikram Pandit, received nearly $129,000 in pay in 2009, while John Havens, head of Citigroup's investment banking and transaction processing businesses, received $11.3 million.

Bank of America's outgoing chief executive, Kenneth Lewis, received $4.2 million in 2009, which came almost entirely from an increase in the value of a company pension plan. Brian Moynihan, who became chief executive this year, received $6.5 million.

Compensation for both was dwarfed by Thomas Montag, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc executive hired by former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain in May 2008. Montag, who is head of global banking in markets, took home $29.9 million for last year.

Wall Street chief executives generally practiced restraint in requesting bonuses for 2009, in an effort to duck public outrage over bank compensation. Both Pandit and Lewis took home less pay for 2009 than 2008.

Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive at Goldman Sachs, received $9 million for 2009, far less than the $67.9 million he received for 2007.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co, received about $16 million. Both banks performed well in 2009, and some analysts had expected them to receive more money than they did.

Restraint seems to be carrying over into this year. Wells Fargo & Co said it is cutting in half the salary of Chief Executive John Stumpf, to $2.8 million, starting on March 1. Stumpf made more than $15 million in cash and stock in 2009, making him one of the banking industry's best paid CEOs for last year.

The U.S. financial industry received more than $1 trillion of support from the government during the crisis in 2008 and 2009. High bonuses among some professionals in the sector during that period triggered public outrage over the industry's ability to socialize its losses and privatize its gains.

(Reporting by Dan Wilchins, additional reporting by Steve Eder and Joe Rauch; editing by Gunna Dickson)

Vikram pandit Citigroup Lloyd blankfein Goldman sachs