After years of multi-million dollar payouts, the Financial Times today reports that Goldman’s partners are about to become a little more proximate to the real world. The cash component of this year’s partner bonuses will apparently be restricted to 260k and the total figure is predicted to fall by 80%. Partners won’t be helped much by sales of stock they got in the past: Goldman’s share price has fallen nearly 64% in the past 12 months.

Morgan Stanley repurchased $12.3 billion of its own bonds in the past three months “at incredibly distressed levels’. (Bloomberg)

Morgan Stanley’s massive makeover. (The Deal)

Citi and the ‘world class investment bank.’(Dealbreaker)

$1bn in three months, no effort. (Wall Street Journal)

Barclays Capital is cutting 3,500 bankers from Lehman in the US.
(Reuters)

UK banks need billions more from the government. (Financial Times)

Prime brokerage risk advisor, S3, doubles its business in year. (Financial News)

10 outrageous predictions for 2009. (CNBC)

Citadel shut its Special Situations Group. (FinAlternatives)

I want to see hedge-fund managers tipped into cage fights with naked Gypsies. (The Times)

How I cut my Christmas shopping bill by 300 (Telegraph)