Nearly 200 former partners at Goldman Sachs will share about $800m (€848m) as they sell some of their stakes in the firm. The sale of shares is the third time since August that former partners - now managing directors - have been able to sell some of their stake in the company, as part of a programme of quarterly sales introduced last year by Goldman.

A number of senior managing directors have sold their stakes for the third time in just over six months. Patrick Ward, co-head of Goldman Sachs International in Europe, is selling more than 97,000 shares, taking his disposals since August to more than $45m. Scott Mead, the head of Goldman's telecoms advisory business in Europe, is raising a further $5.2m, taking his combined sales to just over $22m in six months. This is just ahead of Simon Robertson, the European president of Goldman Sachs International, who used to head Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. His sale of $5.3m of shares takes his tally to $21.8m.