Lazard nearly tripled its compensation costs in the fourth quarter as the 162-year-old investment bank broke from Wall Street's new-found emphasis on deferred cash pay-outs, the bank said yesterday.

Banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have sought to make employees more accountable for risks by paying them in future years once the outcomes of the banks' deals are better understood.

Lazard, which makes most of its income from advisory and asset management fees and received no government help during the financial crisis, moved the other way, eliminating deferred cash as part of compensation.

The bank is also accelerating the payment of deferred cash awarded in 2008, and speeded up the vesting of restricted stock promised to former chief executive Bruce Wasserstein, who died in October.

The actions resulted in a fourth-quarter loss of $142.4m, or $1.64 a share. Even excluding one-time charges, Lazard's results fell short of analysts' expectations. In the same period of 2008, the bank earned $38m, or 50 cents a share. Its shares slipped $1.49, or 3.6 per cent, to $39.53 in midday trading.

Lazard argued that its new compensation policies would clarify its earnings outlook for investors and help it recruit bankers from rival firms.

“We take no risks that threaten our firm,” Ken Jacobs, Lazard's chief executive, told the Financial Times. “Without question, the kinds of things we've done position us competitively to attract and retain great people.”

Fourth-quarter net revenues jumped 32 per cent to $494.8m on strong gains in restructuring advice and asset management. Compensation costs rose to $615.5m.