City workers at a firm that benefited from the US bank bail-out are still to share in a multibillion-pound bonus pot, it has been confirmed.
Goldman Sachs revealed the figure, worth about £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 £1.67 billion.
The US-based firm, which switched from being an investment bank to a bank holding company in September, lost £1.36 billion in the final quarter of this year.
A spokesman rejected reports that the bonuses could amount to as much as £4.3 billion - or £142,000 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.
The firm defended the practice of paying out such bonuses, arguing it helped it to "attract and motivate" the best people.
The spokesman said: "We do think the bonuses are justified. Please bear in mind that the firm was profitable for the year. We have one of, if not the lowest compensation ratios in the industry and when the firm does well, our people do well, and the converse is also true."
