Goldman Sachs Group, Inc on Thursday announced that top level managers will receive no cash bonuses this year but instead would be given compensation in the form of stock which can't be sold for five years.

The company's 30-person management committee, which includes all global divisional and regional leadership, would receive only 100 percent shares at risk which are also subject to other restrictions for five years.

Goldman Sachs has already set aside $16.7 billion to pay employees in the first three quarters of 2009.

The changes to the company's compensation policy were approved by the firm's Board of Directors, the company said today.

The measures that we are announcing today reflect the compensation principles that we articulated at our shareholders' meeting in May, said Lloyd Blankfein, 55, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company.

The company says discretionary compensation represents the vast majority of senior management's compensation.

The company says it has introduced an enhanced recapture protection which lets the company reclaim shares in cases where the employee engaged in materially improper risk analysis or failed sufficiently to raise concerns about risks.

That measure builds of the company's existing clawback mechanism which goes well beyond employee acts of fraud or malfeasance, the company said.

In addition, shareholders will have an advisory vote on the company's compensation principles and the compensation of its named executive officer's at the company's next Annual Meeting of Shareholders in 2010.

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