Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is considering tactics such as vested stock clawbacks as an incentive for bankers to stay at the firm, according to a report by Bloomberg. The bank may confiscate vested stock in a move typically used for cases of misconduct as way to convince talent to remain at the firm, the report said. The bank may do this to two bankers that left the firm last year, Omer Ismail and David Stark. "Equity awards are governed by the agreement signed by the recipient," spokesperson for the bank said, as reported separately by Reuters. "In each case mentioned by Bloomberg, there were explicit terms which were upheld." Two other ex-Goldman bankers, Gregg Lemkau and Eric Lane, are getting their unvested compensation pulled, the report said. Goldman appears to be using both the carrot and the stick methods to retain bankers as financial service companies compete to keep their talent in house. For the carrot, banks are hiking pay. Goldman's stock clawbacks would fall into the stick bucket by reducing pay for executives that leave. Goldman Sachs shares are down 3.7% in premarket trades.
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