NEW YORK, USA - GOLDMAN Sachs said on Sunday its Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein and six other top officials will not get bonuses for 2008.

Mr Blankfein, Presidents and Co-Chief Operating Officers Jon Winkelried and Gary Cohn, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar, and three vice-chairmen - Mr J. Michael Evans, Mr Michael Sherwood and Mr John Weinberg - asked the board's compensation committee on Sunday morning that they not receive a bonus, spokesman Lucas van Praag said.

The compensation committee met and agreed, Mr Praag said.

Last year, Mr Blankfein made US$68.5 million (S$104.2 million), Mr Winkelried and Mr Cohn got US$67.5 million, and Mr Viniar got US$57.5 million. The compensation of the other three was not disclosed.

The move comes as the global credit crisis leads to big losses and erodes profit for banks and securities firms.

Banks worldwide have fired more than 150,000 people since the crunch began. Goldman Sachs recently fired 3,200 employees, or 10 per cent of its its global workforce.

Wall Street compensation also became a political issue after the US government put together a US$700 billion fund to bail out financial services companies.