The US House of Representatives passed legislation on Thursday that would impose a 90% surtax on bonuses paid to employees who earn more than $250,000 at institutions that have received at least $5bn of money from the Troubled Asset Relief Programme.

Eight banks would be affected: Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial Services Group, Wells Fargo and US Bancorp.

The US Senate is set to take up a similar measure. That bill would impose a 70% surtax on bonuses, with half the levy paid by employees and the other half by the companies.