Goldman Sachs' top City banker Michael Sherwood given £1.6m bonus

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) ' top London-based banker has received a share award worth $2.5m (£1.6m), according to a US regulatory filing.

Michael Sherwood, the British executive in charge of the US investment bank's London operations, received the shares as part of a deferred bonus award made to him in the past three years.

Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, received shares worth $5m under the same award programme.

Bonuses for 2011 at Goldman Sachs are expected to be substantially down on previous years after a 47pc fall in net profits to $4.4bn.

However, despite the general gloom and threats of new investment bank redundancies, some London recruiters remain optimistic for the City jobs market.

Joseph Leung, formerly the head of the London office of recruitment firm Solomon Page, has set up his own headhunting business, Aubreck Leung, and said the market for top bankers remained "competitive".