Lunchtime Links: Goldman's fiscal dodge, why banking stock options aren't so bad

Goldman Sachs sped up paying share options worth $65m to senior executives in order to avoid the higher rate of tax for those earning over $400k, just hours before the fiscal cliff deal was finalised.

The bank would normally have granted the stocks in the January bonus pool, but accelerated the payments in order to avoid the more punitive rate of income tax, according to the Wall Street Journal. 10 senior executives vested 508,104 shares on 31 December, just before a deal was struck on the fiscal cliff in the US, to avoid paying the new 39.6% rate of income tax for those earning over $400k, according to SEC filings.

This tactic also isn't limited to senior executives, a spokesperson for the bank confirmed. Before anyone screams vampire squid, it's also worth noting that Goldman isn't the only firm to do this - U.S. corporations announced more special dividends last month than any since at least 1955.

Separately, Financial News has analysed the share price performance of the major banks in 2012 and concluded that it's been something of a stellar year. Barclays (up 49%) was the stand out performer, but JP Morgan (up 26%) and UBS (24%) both did well. This is good news for bankers with deferred stock.

Meanwhile:

Wall Street professionals are flocking to become maths teachers (Dealbook)

Tax loophole for banks will remain after fiscal cliff deal (Financial Times)

"The opportunity in Asia that was going up to the sky has come back down, so we’ve brought down the cost. That doesn’t mean we don’t have the opportunity to take advantage in Asia if Asia opens back up again." (Financial Times)

Decommissioning an investment bank is like decommissioning Chernobyl (Financial Times)

Global banks are pulling back from the Middle East (Reuters)

The best performing CEOs (Harvard Business Review)