As Goldman Sachs prepares to give away mammoth bonuses to its employees, the bank is considering requiring its top employees to give away a portion of their bonuses to charity, long a practice of the failed bank Bear Stearns, according to the New York Times.
Though details of the move are not yet known, the move appears as much a PR move as it is a charitable move:
The move would be the latest in a series of initiatives by Goldman to soften criticism over the size of its bonuses, which are expected to be among the largest on Wall Street, bringing average pay to about $595,000 for each employee — with far higher amounts for top performers.
Goldman set aside $16.7 billion for compensation in the first nine months of 2009, and in good years, the firm dedicates about three-quarters of its compensation budget to year-end bonuses. The firm is expected to report later this month what could be record profit of about $12 billion for 2009, according to analysts’ estimates, compared with $11.7 billion in 2007. Its final compensation pool and executive bonuses will be announced then.
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