Goldman Sachs is undertaking "modest" staff cuts, a company spokesperson said Wednesday, joining other financial giants in trimming its number of employees, months after the Wall Street bank paused job cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bank was looking to cut about 400 jobs, or roughly one percent of its workforce, Bloomberg News first reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

"At the outbreak of the pandemic, the firm announced that it would suspend any job reductions," the spokesperson said. "The firm has made a decision to move forward with a modest number of layoffs."

Many of the cuts in the current round are tied to back-office roles that had been folded into bigger money-making divisions as part of an earlier reorganization. According to the Bloomberg report Goldman Sachs' annual cull has long set it apart from Wall Street rivals, which tend to make mass layoffs periodically.

In January, Goldman said it was aiming for a 60 percent efficiency ratio over the next three years, compared with 68 percent in 2019. A lower efficiency ratio means a bank is better at managing costs relative to revenue.

Separately, the U.S. Federal Reserve will curb big bank capital distributions through the end of the year, meaning the likes of JPMorgan, Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America will be barred from share buybacks and will have to cap dividends into the new year.

Shares of big banks fell between 0.5 percent and one percent in extended trade following the news.

Wells Fargo and Citigroup have also cut some staff in recent weeks, according to U.S. media reports. In July, Wells Fargo reportedly was preparing to cut thousands of jobs due to pressure to dramatically reduce costs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Citigroup Inc. resumed job cuts starting Mid-September, which affects less than one percent of the bank's global workforce.

(With input from Reuters)