At the moment, the world's major merchant banks are in trouble, so I don't think the bonuses are too good. Although I read that they are sacking people and splitting the salaries etc to increase the bonus pool for the others
A good way to get into merchant banking is through commerce with a finance major, commerce/law is even better.
Membership of the BoS commerce/law society entitles you to extra help aimed at getting you to that cherished job at Merrill Lynch
.