No cash bonuses for Goldman Sachs' top 30 execs

Amid the growing uproar over exorbitant executive salary, financial services firm Goldman Sachs has said its top 30 executives will receive their annual bonuses only in stocks rather than cash this year.

The company's 30-person management committee, including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar and leaders of the firm's global and regional divisions, would get bonuses in stocks, which cannot be sold for five years.

"The firm's entire 30-person management committee, which comprises all global divisional and regional leadership, will receive 100 per cent of their discretionary compensation in the form of Shares at Risk, which are subject to restrictions for five years," Goldman Sachs said in a statement.

According to reports, earlier top executives of Goldman received their bonuses in the ratio of 70 per cent stocks and 30 per cent cash, with the bonuses vesting over four years.

The moves comes amid a public furore worldwide over huge bonuses and incentives paid to bankers, which is widely believed to one of the causes for the global financial crisis.

Earlier this week, the UK government proposed a temporary 50 per cent tax on bonus payout for the bankers. The government added that it attached great importance to tackling remuneration practices that contributed to excessive risk-taking by the banking industry.