Bank giant bows to public anger over pay

The firm, which employs 5,500 people in Britain, paid 16.2 billion dollars (10bn) in compensation and benefits for the year – a whopping 48 per cent above 2008 levels.

But Goldman said its share of revenues paid out in salary and benefits for 2009 was 35.8 per cent, its lowest as a public company.

Revenues at the bank were just two per cent below the record levels achieved in 2007, but total compensation and benefits were 20 per cent – or four billion dollars(2.5bn), lower than two years earlier, Goldman said.

Goldman Sachs took 10 billion US dollars (6.2bn) from the US Treasury at the height of the credit crisis but has since paid the money back, taxpayers earning 1.4 billion dollars (865m) on the investment.

The bank added that it had paid 6.4 billion (4bn) in corporate taxes during the year as well as contributing 500 million dollars (309m) from its pay pot to a charitable fund during the final quarter of last year.

Chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said the results represented a "strong performance".

He added: "Despite significant economic headwinds, we are seeing signs of growth and remain focused on supporting that growth by helping companies raise capital and manage their risks, by providing liquidity to markets and by investing for our clients."

Investment banks across the world have benefited from fundraising by Governments and companies as well as the recovering prices of stock markets and other assets.

Goldman's trading revenues were "significantly higher" than the previous year at 34.7 billion dollars (21.5bn), driven by "strong client-driven activity".

Chancellor Alistair Darling has placed a one-off 50 per cent tax on bonuses above 25,000, although Goldman Sachs declined to comment on reports that it was capping the bonuses of its UK staff as a result.