Big shareholders ask Goldman to cut bonuses - WSJ

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Some of Goldman Sachs Group Inc's largest shareholders have asked the company to cut the size of its bonus pool and pass along more of its profits to investors, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Although the shareholders are not pushing for a huge cut, they feel that Goldman should better reward shareholders for this year's rebound, the paper said.

Goldman has faced public anger for setting aside nearly USD 17 billion for year-end bonuses after receiving a USD 10 billion taxpayer bailout during the financial crisis. The bank has paid back the government money.

Goldman has reported robust profits in the past two quarters, with net income in excess of USD 3 billion.

The shareholders are also concerned about a change in the company's financial statements that increased the firm's total headcount by adding temporary employees and consultants, the paper said.

Due to the change, it looked like Goldman employees are on pace to earn USD 717,000 per person in 2009, the Journal said.

The paper quoted a Goldman spokesman saying shareholders "have historically been more focused on the absolute return on equity and on book value per share growth" than per-share earnings.

Goldman could not be immediately reached for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.