Jefferies set aside $1.17 billion for employee compensation in the first nine months of its fiscal year, amounting to about 59 percent of net revenue, according to the firm’s latest quarterly report. The one-year deferral applies to cash payments that aren’t already subject to other terms, such as contractual agreements, according to the memo. “We are paying out a full compensation rate as a percentage of revenues (albeit revenues below our collective expectations), and the portion of our compensation that will be paid in cash is among the highest percentages of cash among our major competitors,” the two executives said in the memo.  [Bloomberg 12/13/11]