Goldman Sachs Group aid bonuses may be granted depending on future earnings

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. which weighs 2,010 packages to pay for a year that could have the character of Wall Street "the second best", said bonuses may be granted depending on future earnings, as well as stock performance.

Prizes will go to "key employees" and linked to a series of financial measures, including income, net income and return on capital, an indicator of profitability, the company based in New York, said yesterday in a regulatory filing. Prizes may include cash, securities or other components linked to equities, and provisions that allow you to cancellation or return.

The plan is a tool of the compensation committee can be used to further align incentive compensation with long-term performance, "said Stephen Cohen, spokesman for the company. Cohen declined to provide figures on potential payments, saying that the awards have not been established.

The regulators have encouraged banks to design pay packages of top employees would discourage excessive risk-taking, after a financial crisis ended with firms such as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and led to government bailouts. Most companies have interpreted the guidance to emphasize deferred stock awards of cash bonuses.

Goldman Sachs new program aims to ensure "that the structure of the company's incentive compensation is balanced and consistent with safety and soundness of the company," according to the filing. Non-combustible "reckless risk-taking," he said.

Recipients are selected by the compensation committee of the board, according to the filing, which did not specify eligible executives.

"Inappropriate risk"

Payments may be withheld or recovered if the company determines, for example, that an employee who participates in the risk analysis materially inaccurate or not enough to raise concerns about the risks, "according to the filing. Previous awards have also included provisions to recover the call.

The new plan, approved by the Compensation Committee of 17 December, was announced after markets closed in New York yesterday, the last trading session before Christmas.

Goldman Sachs and the four largest U.S. companies by the investment banking and trading revenue - JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley - are set to complete his two-year best investment banking and trading. Probably have a better fourth quarter in the last two periods, driven by capital subscription and increased trading volume in stocks and bonds. Even if the quarter is only the third match, revenues higher than any year except 2009.