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Home Financial Banking Goldman Sachs Group bats enquiry calls
Goldman Sachs Group bats enquiry calls PDF Print E-mail
Written by Will Peters   
Tuesday, 02 March 2010 10:42
Morning finance news in brief, 02 March 2010: Goldman Sachs Group, Greek financial crisis, AstraZaneca and Vivendi.



Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) has seen their board reject demands from shareholders that an enquiry is conducted into recent compensation awards.

The rejection, and details of the shareholder demands, were detailed as the bank filed its annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the report Goldman Sachs shareholders also wanted the bank to claw back “excessive compensation” paid in previous years. “After considering the demand letters, [Goldman’s] board of directors rejected the demands,” the report said.

According to the Times this morning shareholders filed legal claims in December, accusing Goldman’s board of breaching its fiduciary duties in setting compensation in 2009, when $16.9 billion in pay and benefits was distributed between 31,700 staff. Most of the claims have been dropped.

Greek financial crisis


The European Union has urged Greece to announce austerity measures to tackle the debt crisis that has shaken the eurozone and promised to help Athens overcome the problem. The Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner made the call at the first round of talks with Greek officials yesterday.

Movement on the issue has seen fears subside, the Euro has been firmer over the the start of the week as a result.

AstraZaneca


AstraZaneca (LON:AZN) said that it would pay $64m to Merck for the rights to sell its Entocort, Atacand and Plendil drugs in the US.

The deal is set to form part of the unwinding of those two companies' trading relationship.

Until now Merck has been selling the drugs in the US and splitting royalties with AstraZaneca.

Vivendi


The French media and entertainment group said that its net loss has narrowed by 32% in Q4 due to lower financial charges.

However uncertainty still exists as to the nature of a fine the company is expecting in the US.

Vivendi is facing a class action suit brought against it by shareholders in the US.

The amount of damages Vivendi might have to pay could differ significantly from the amount of money provisionally stashed away for the case.