In the face of an international wave of one time taxes on those individuals receiving bonuses from financial institutions which were awarded taxpayer bailouts, such as the new new one time 50% tax on bonuses over 25,000 pounds in the UK as well as a new initiative for a similar law in France, the Goldman Sachs board of directors approved a measure to restrict their own bonuses.

The plan is for the entire 30 person management team to receive all of their compensation in the form of restricted stock and stock options that cannot be sold for 5 years.  The board is also giving shareholders an advisory role in future compensation packages for the board of directors, however it remains to be seen if that translates into any real accountability. 

"The measures that we are announcing today reflect the compensation principles that we articulated at our shareholders' meeting in May. We believe our compensation policies are the strongest in our industry and ensure that compensation accurately reflects the firm's performance and incentivizes behavior that is in the public's and our shareholders' best interests," said Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. "In addition, by subjecting our compensation principles and executive compensation to a shareholder advisory vote, we are further strengthening our dialogue with shareholders on the important issue of compensation."

We will have to wait and see what the response will be from an already angry general public on the excesses of the financial world.