The top director at Goldman Sachs International (GSI) in London earned just $1.9 million (£1.3 million) last year, down more than 90% from $23.4 million in 2007, annual accounts obtained by the Evening Standard showed today.

A spokesman declined to name the director but it is thought to be Richard Gnodde, the South African-born co-chief executive of the Fleet Street-based banking operation.

Goldman has already announced that Gnodde's fellow co-chief executive, Michael Sherwood, would only receive a base salary of $600,000 for 2008.

Sherwood waived his bonus along with other directors of the main board in New York after a torrid year for the former darling of the Wall Street investment banks.

Goldman recorded a $2 billion loss for the fourth quarter, had to raise $10 billion from investors including Warren Buffett, and was revealed to have received $12.9 billion from AIG as part of the bailout of the collapsed insurer. Goldman did also return $4.8 billion in securities to AIG.

GSI's accounts for the year to 28 November 2008 show bankers at its Fleet Street HQ suffered a double blow to their wealth. Their annual bonuses were slashed and those from earlier years were hit as a large part of these are paid in long-term Goldman share awards and the stock price slumped by almost two-thirds.

GSI said bankers saw $2.9 billion wiped off their personal wealth as a result of "mark to market of equity-based compensation" - a process whereby the bank recalculates the value of share options and share awards at the current market price.

GSI's total wage bill plunged to just $81.3 million from $5.2 billion a year earlier because of the $2.9 billion markdown. Without this exceptional item, the bill for wages, bonuses and benefits is estimated at $3 billion - or still about $515,000 a head for the 5831 members of staff.

The 11 board members of GSI, which is chaired by Peter Sutherland, chairman of BP and former non-executive director of Royal Bank of Scotland, saw their total pay fall to $6.5 million from $47.8 million in 2007.