Some of Goldman Sachs Group Inc's largest shareholders have asked the company to cut the size of its bonus pool and pass along more of its profits to investors, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Although the shareholders were not pushing for a huge cut in the bonus pools, they feel that Goldman should better reward shareholders for this year's rebound, the paper said.

Goldman has faced public ridicule for setting aside nearly $17 billion for year-end bonuses after receiving a $10 billion taxpayer bailout during the financial crisis. The bank has paid back the government money.

Goldman, which has reported robust profits in the past two quarters, could not be immediately reached for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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