For an industry eager to shed its reputation for employing lavishly paid wheeler-dealer barrow boys, the ongoing legal tussle between inter-dealer brokers Tullett Prebon and BGC Partners is a PR nightmare. But are the sort of million pound plus packages allegedly offered to lure talent really reflective of the money you can earn in this industry?

Tullett Prebon, ranked second in the 'big five' inter-dealer brokers, is suing BGC over claims that it attempted to poach 55 key staff.

In the world of inter-dealer broking, client relationships are paramount, and had the staff defected much of their business would have travelled with them. Poaching activity is therefore common in the industry. But the scale of the Tullett defections is exceptional.

At the heart of the case is ex-Tullett COO, Tony Verrier, who moved to BGC and allegedly tried to convince staff to follow. He's said to have offered one individual and two of his staff £2m in cash, and £1m in stock if they would move and bring another two brokers with them. He also offered one person £3.5m upfront and another £1.9m for his team.

"When I hear the sort of figures being mentioned, it doesn't come as a great surprise," says Damien Lee, managing director of IDB recruiters Search Partners. "I've effectively been handed a blank cheque over the years to recruit the right people."

Base salaries from IDBs are often quite modest, coming in at around £80-120k depending on the product line and seniority, but the real money is made through taking a percentage of the money brokers bring in for the firms. This can be 30-50% at the main players - Icap, Tullett Prebon, GFI Group, BGC Partners and Tradition – but up to 70% at the smaller firms due to reduced earning potential.

Because of the legal implications both firms have remained tight-lipped, but BGC released a statement saying it "continues to attract top talent". Lee confirms that the IDB recruitment drive of the last 18 months carries on relatively unabated.

Since 2002, when a similar court case exposed a culture of bullying and expense accounts laden with lap-dancing club receipts, the industry has made moves to clean up its image.

Most firms now have formal graduate training schemes to develop a pipeline of talent, many now lock brokers into multi-year contracts and lately IDBs have looked to recruit from the investment banking sector.