Goldman Sachs sought to counter the public furore over pay by shrinking the portion of revenue set aside for compensation to its lowest level since the bank went public in 1999 and giving more money to charity.
A drop in compensation costs during the final quarter helped lift Goldman's profit above analysts' expectations in spite of a slowdown in the final weeks of 2009. For the year, Goldman earned a record $13.4bn.
However, it remains unclear whether Goldman's definition of restraint matches that of President Barack Obama, who last week said “reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses” on Wall Street had spurred him to introduce a $90bn bank levy to recoup the costs of the financial crisis.
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