Goldman cuts Blankfein pay to $12m Goldman Sachs cut compensation for Lloyd Blankfein, its chairman and chief executive, to its lowest since 2009 following a slump in the bank's profits and share price last year. Mr Blankfein, who has led the bank since 2006, received a $2m salary and $3m cash bonus for 2011, according to a proxy statement filed by Goldman on Friday. He will also receive about $7m in restricted shares and $449,600 in other benefits, to create a total package of about $12m. That's 35 per cent less than the $19m he earned in 2010, when the bank's net revenues were about 26 per cent higher. Mr Blankfein earned less than $10m in both 2009 and 2008. Goldman has been slashing expenses as it grapples with new regulations that are expected to hit its traditional money-making businesses. The 2011 package means Mr Blankfein earned less than his chief executive counterparts at JPMorgan and Citigroup, and far below the more than $50m he earned in 2007. "We received valuable input from shareholders following our "say on pay" vote last year, which reaffirmed our long-held view that pay-for-performance is the most critical aspect of compensation," the bank said in the filing. With respect to new regulations, we are closely following developments. The decline in Mr Blankfein's compensation was in line with the collective drop for other executive officers, including president Gary Cohn and chief financial officer David Viniar, Goldman said. Mr Blankfein's dual-position at the bank has been criticised by AFSCME, a union pension fund that holds shares in the bank and had been pressing Goldman to split the roles of chairman and chief executive. Goldman said in the filing that its board members had debated the effectiveness of the dual position in their annual assessment of the bank's leadership structure. But, they noted, average support for shareholder proposals requesting an independent chairman was just 32 per cent in recent years. The bank's return on equity - a key measure of profitability - has slumped from an average 27 per cent between 2004 and 2007, before the crisis, to an average 9.9 per cent after 2008. Goldman reports first-quarter earnings next Tuesday and is forecast by analysts to post a strong turnround in revenues after a better trading start to the year. Many expect it to continue to show that it can reduce expenses. The bank reduced operating costs 14 per cent last year, and cut 2,400 jobs.