Business

BONUSES $HRIVEL

Wall Street’s bonus gravy train appears to be switching tracks.

Goldman Sachs and other major investment banks are mulling tweaks to the way bonuses are paid to executives as these embattled firms come under intense scrutiny for taking tens of billions in taxpayer money designed to breathe life into the financial markets.

Already, banking execs, who in the past took home tens of millions of dollars in salary and bonuses, were facing a bleak year after being upended by the historic credit crisis.

But now that banks have accepted federal rescue money, and the financial industry has come under withering criticism for massive payouts at a time when the sector’s underpinnings were coming apart, the compensation picture for many bankers looks even bleaker.

Indeed, sources said some Wall Streeters will see their bonuses shrink by 25 percent to 40 percent, while others are set to get zilch when year-end payouts are decided next month.

It all comes at a time when compensation is facing extra scrutiny by both federal and state officials, including US Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who several weeks ago pressed banks to justify the fat bonuses they paid to executives.

The pullback on bonuses stands in stark contrast to last year, when Goldman set aside a whopping $20 billion to pay compensation and salaries to its workers.

This year, Goldman, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America combined might be allocating $20 billion to pay employees, according to Bloomberg.

And that might not be the end of it. Sources said firms are considering reining in for good lavish bonuses, or rewarding people using less cash and more company stock.

Other considerations include spreading bonus payments over years rather than handing out fat paychecks at once.

The idea behind such a move would be to avoid pitfalls that led to the current Wall Street collapse, in which bankers got paid massive bonuses on securities that ultimately imploded. Under this new scenario, execs would be compensated piecemeal based on certain benchmarks.

Some overseas banks are already changing their compensation model.

Australian-based financial giant Macquarie Group is reportedly changing its incentive payments to workers to include fewer short-term incentives.

In the end, Goldman and Morgan may decide to do nothing.

The firms have argued that their bonus structures succeed because they reward talent and prevent top executives from being poached by rivals.

mark.decambre@nypost.com