Sunday Times: Goldman Sachs to Axe 100 Partners

According to a story in the Sunday Times, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is planning to cut around 100 of its highest-paid partners in an effort to bring down costs at the investment firm. The layoffs could effect 20 percent of Goldman's partners and result in $2 billion in cost savings, according to the article. The plans could be unveiled within weeks. The news comes on the heels of layoffs at a number of other large investment banks, including Barclays (NYSE: BCS), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), UBS (NYSE: UBS), and Creidt Suisse (NYSE: CS). Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) also recently announced that it was cutting its workforce by 16,000. Last week, Goldman announced that its long-time CFO David Viniar was stepping down at the end of January. At the time, analysts said that they did not see the move as being indicative of financial problems at the firm. “CFO changes often leave investors fearful of an underlying financial problem,” Sandler O'Neill's Jeffery Harte conceded. “However, we do not see signs of trouble at GS and specifically note the prior CFO is gradually transitioning out and joining the Board.” Thus far, the possibility of the firm cutting its partner ranks by 20 percent has not been widely reported, except by the Sunday Times, but it could be an indication of some financial stress at the investment bank if true.