Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Goldman Sachs Vs the United Stats

3 comments:

Debbie said...

When you figure out what text you want on the screen shots, I can help with spelling and grammar. I'm not an expert, but I'll help if you like.

y0rick said...

ok... I get it. everything sucks. I'm ready for a change, and it's not obama, and its not republican.

It seems to me that there is a big void for those not tied to the "conservative base" (ie the evangelical right). Those idiots want to run Palin in 2012. There could be a giant push for a third party president in 2012, or at least third party members of congress. A third party candidate that could take the moderate base from both the democratic and the republic parties could be poised to win in 4 - 8 years.

Where is the promotion of canidates? Everybody knows that Bush sucks. Who is better?

Unknown said...

How about this tidbit:

According to the "Rule of 55" described in today's Financial Times below, if your years of service plus calendar age equals 55 you are entitled to FULL retirement benefits.

That means if you worked for 10 years for GS from age 35 to 45 you would get FULL retirement benefits. See below.

GS got a 25 billion cash infusion. Did the US Government demand "reform" of this retirement plan? Of course not.

GM asks for 11 billion and THEIR workers must sacrifice quite a bit in terms of retirement benefits.

What makes that fair.

Check out the article below.

Mr. Fed

Long-time Goldman staff given incentive to retire in rules shake-up
By Greg Farrell and Francesco Guererra in New York
Published: December 11 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 11 2008 02:00
Goldman Sachs is to change its retirement rules, giving long-serving employees an incentive to leave before the end of the year, in a move that could add to the 3,000-plus redundancies already announced by the Wall Street bank.

Goldman, which last month said it would cull 10 per cent of its 32,500 workforce, says that as of 2009, it will take longer for Goldman's employees to qualify for the firm's full retirement package.

Goldman will scrap its policy of allowing employees whose combination of age and years of service exceeds 55 to collect all of their restricted stock upon departure. Instead, the programme - which is known around the firm as the rule of 55 - will be replaced with a rule of 60.

According to the bank, the change is designed to bring Goldman's retirement programme into closer conformity with that of its competitors, who generally make employees work longer before qualifying for similar treatment. It is also a way of encouraging employees to stay longer.

For many Goldman employees, starting with partners, a large chunk of their annual bonus compensation is in the form of restricted stock. The restricted stock units vest over a three-year period. Employees who quit the firm for a competitor, or otherwise leave under a cloud, forfeit their unvested stock.

Those who decide to leave get to keep their restricted stock awards, but unless they qualify under the rule of 55, they have to wait for the required time to elapse before actually receiving their stock.

As for those being laid off this year, their vesting schedules will remain in place, unless they qualify for 55 treatment. As for those who are laid off but who have not reached the magic 55 number, they will continue to receive their restricted stock even if they find jobs at one of Goldman's competitors.

Goldman's decision to tighten its retirement rules comes at a time when the firm has hit a bad patch. On Tuesday, for the first time in its nine-year history as a public company, Goldman Sachs is expected to report a quarterly loss. Some analysts have predicted the bank will lose more than $2bn.

With the backdrop of this quarterly loss, Goldman's current layoffs have sparked speculation that the staff reduction is in excess of the 10 per cent previously reported.

The company denies this.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited