Wall Street Banks Pledge to Avoid Spending Excess

The Financial Times, David Wells, 2 January 2006A hiring spree helped push up banks' expenses on Wall Street last year. But several leading banks that managed to keep revenues ahead of their rising costs are vowing to keep a rein on spending, and avoid repeating the excesses of the past.Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns all produced record full-year profits in 2005 and say they are