Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein sees slight pay cut in 2016

By Olivia Oran

REUTERS - Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein saw his overall compensation fall slightly, reflecting lower revenues at the bank in the first half of 2016.

Blankfein's overall pay declined 4 percent to $22 million, according to a regulatory filing.

Goldman changed Blankfein's compensation structure by tying all of his equity awards to performance. It also eliminated a long-term incentive award.

The bank revamped the pay structure after some shareholders raised concerns that it was overly complex.

Blankfein and Citigroup Inc CEO Mike Corbat were the only major bank CEOs whose pay was cut. Bank of America Corp CEO Brian Moynihan's compensation surged 25 percent to $20 million, his biggest payday since taking the helm of the bank in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon and Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman saw more modest raises of 4 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Goldman shares rose 34 percent last year, thanks largely to a broad rally in U.S. bank stocks following the Nov. 8 election. Investors are betting that higher interest rates, as well as lighter regulation, lower taxes and faster economic growth promised by Trump will boost profits for lenders.

The bank reported a 9 percent decline in net revenues for 2016, as a strong second half of the year in which events like Brexit and the U.S. presidential election spurred trading could not make up for a dismal first quarter across Wall Street.

Goldman's return on equity (ROE), a measure that shows how well a bank uses shareholder money to generate profit, was 9.4 percent for 2016. That was below the 10 percent analysts believe is needed to cover a bank's cost of capital, but above U.S. peers which generated on average a 7.9 percent ROE in 2016.

Goldman changed its performance-based awards for executives to reflect the bank's ROE relative to peers.

Goldman Chief Financial Officer Harvey Schwartz received total compensation of $20 million in 2016, a decline of 5 percent from the year prior.

(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru and Oilvia Oran in New York; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Jonathan Oatis)