Goldman earmarks $17b for self-congratulation

LONDON - The Goldman Sachs bonus bonanza continued yesterday as the investment bank set aside US$13.1 billion ($17.6 billion) for its wealthy employees to share for the work they have performed during the first nine months of the year.

That amounts to 43 per cent of revenues, with an average payment to each of its 34,500 staff of US$370,706.

However, the best-paid bankers will earn considerably more because the workforce includes support staff who are paid just a fraction of the dizzying sums taken home by their bosses.

Overall, however, pay is down by 21 per cent from the US$16.7 billion set aside at this time last year, when the compensation pool reached US$527,192 per Goldman employee.

In the third quarter, compensation and benefits expenses were US$3.8 billion, down 28 per cent from the US$5.35 billion in the same period last year.

But the numbers are still likely to ignite fury as Britons brace for job losses across the public sector as a result of yesterday's savage Comprehensive Spending Review.

Goldman set a pay record in 2007 but has since come under intense pressure from politicians and shareholders to cut back since the financial crisis.

Goldman, which employs 5500 staff in Britain, posted net income of US$1.9 billion in the three months to September 30, down from US$3 billion in the same period a year ago.

- INDEPENDENT