Goldman Sachs’ (NYSE: GS) 100 United Kingdom partners are capping their 2009 compensation packages (pay plus bonuses) at 1 million GBP each, according to a new report from the BBC.
The report indicated that the caps will decrease the company’s total compensation package by several hundred million pounds. The move is said to be seen as an exercise in restrain in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer has requested from all bankers.
Many of the company’s executives working in Britain that are ranked below partner-level will still be able to earn more than £1m each. The report said that the company felt that it couldn’t force its other employees to take the cut because it might hurt the company’s ability to attract and retain top banking talent.
Goldman will stay hundreds of millions in pounds worth of bonuses to staff ranked below partner-level. The company is planning on reporting to employees how much each one of them earned throughout 2009 during a near record year for the company.
Other major bankers including Barclays and RBS have not yet fixed the size of their employees bonuses. Barclays has stated that its top executives will receive 75% of their bonuses in staggered payments over the next three years for most of its employees.
