In a closely watched move that may be followed across Wall Street, the top executives at Goldman Sachs have decided to forgo their 2008 bonuses. In doing so, they are giving up potentially tens of millions of dollars in payouts in a year that reshaped the securities industry.

After months of internal debate at Goldman, the seven top executives at the firm, including chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, asked the board's compensation committee to grant them no bonuses. The board approved the request on Sunday.