Bail-out bank gives workers £1.67bn bonus pot

City workers at a firm which benefited from the US bank bail-out are still to share in a multi-billion pound bonus pot, it was confirmed today.

Goldman Sachs revealed the figure, worth around £55,000 per employee, as it posted its first quarterly loss since becoming a public company in 1999.

A spokesman said the bonus pot, which will not be shared by the chief executive and six senior colleagues who have agreed to give up their perk, totalled £1.67bn (€1.85bn).

The US-based firm, which switched from being an investment bank to a bank holding company in September, lost £1.36bn (€1.5bn) in the final quarter of this year.

A spokesman rejected reports that the bonuses could amount to as much as £4.3bn (€4.76bn) – or £142,000 (€157.515) for each worker including the 5,000-plus employed in London.

Salaries and benefits, including bonuses, were paid out of earnings, not capital, he added.