executive compensation

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Obama May Cap Pay of Bailed-Out Execs at $500K

Pay to be capped at $500,000, bonuses canceled

(Newser) - The Obama administration plans to announce sharp new limits today on how much executives of bailed-out companies can make, the New York Times reports. The rules, still being hammered out, would cap the pay of top executives at $500,000 and bar them from receiving any bonuses apart from normal...

BofA Knew of Merrill's $4B Bonuses

Private bonus agreement backs up Thain's claim that Bank of America was aware of payouts

(Newser) - Ousted Merrill Lynch boss John Thain appears to have been speaking the truth when he said Bank of America knew all about Merrill's controversial December bonuses, the Wall Street Journal reports. A copy of a private bonus agreement obtained by the Journal shows that the two firms agreed on a...

Feds May Curb Pay at Rescued Financial Firms

Administration hopes move will bolster flagging bailout support

(Newser) - Seeking to curry public favor, the Obama administration is weighing pay cuts for executives at financial institutions that receive government aid, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move would apply to firms receiving “exceptional” help—a term not clearly defined but seemingly along the lines of that given to...

NY AG May Claw Back $4B Merrill Bonuses

Cuomo expands probe into Merrill's handling of pre-takeover handouts

(Newser) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is considering action ordering the return of $4 billion in early bonuses Merrill Lynch handed out to staff just before its bailout-backed takeover by Bank of America, an insider tells Bloomberg. Cuomo has widened his probe into the bonuses and aims to find out...

Obama: $18B in Wall Street Bonuses 'Shameful'

President says he, Geithner will press executives on issue

(Newser) - President Obama denounced huge bonuses to Wall Street executives as “the height of irresponsibility” given the country’s economic hardship, the AP reports. Responding to news that financial firms paid out $18 billion in bonuses last year, Obama described the firms’ actions as “shameful” and vowed that he...

Ousted Thain to Repay $1.2M Spent on Office

Lush renovation was a 'mistake,' says ex-Merrill CEO

(Newser) - Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain says he’ll repay the $1.2 million he spent on office renovations last year, Bloomberg reports. “The expenses were incurred over a year ago in a very different environment,” Thain wrote in a memo to Merrill execs. “They were a...

'Sneaky' Loophole Boosts Execs' Pensions

Through lump-sum payments, executives net millions extra

(Newser) - A change in federal disclosure requirements has revealed that some companies are inflating the value of retirement plans for—guess who?—top executives. By converting pensions, which generally pay out in installments over a retired employee’s lifetime, to a lump-sum payment, CEOs can increase the value by 10% to...

Chrysler's Loan Arm Gets $1.5B Federal Loan

Attempt to unfreeze auto-loan market is on top of $17B coming to Detroit from TARP

(Newser) - The Treasury Department will lend Chrysler’s financing arm $1.5 billion to encourage the struggling auto-loan market, the Washington Post reports today. The 5-year loan comes at an interest rate of about 1.36%, and carries limits on executive compensation: Chrysler Financial will have to cut its bonus pool...

BofA Boss Reluctantly Bags Bonuses
BofA Boss Reluctantly Bags Bonuses
Jan 7, 2009 8:37 AM CST

BofA Boss Reluctantly Bags Bonuses

Bridling at political pressure, Lewis nixes cash for top execs

(Newser) - Despite being rankled by political pressure to forgo bonuses for himself and other top Bank of America execs, CEO Kenneth Lewis has asked the board to withhold bonuses for 2008, reports the Wall Street Journal. The company saw its stock fall 66% in 2008 and 3rd-quarter profits plunge 68%, and...

Liz Claiborne CEO Flies Coach to Cut Costs

And he may soon have company

(Newser) - Like most CEOs, William McComb is a jet-setter, flying 200,000 miles a year, give or take. But unlike most CEOs, he does it in the cheap seats, flying exclusively on commercial jets, and almost always in coach. “Every penny counts,” he reasons, given that his company, Liz...

Wall Street Execs Still Fly Private Jets

Costly travel rationalized as time saver

(Newser) - Six ailing Wall Street firms that eagerly took bailout funds still spend thousands to operate fleets of private jets that whisk their executives to company—and personal—events, AP reports. AIG, which scooped up $150 billion from the government, beats its peers with a seven-jet fleet. Fuel alone for a...

Bailed-Out Bank Execs Made $1.6B Last Year

Execs made average of $2.6 million; Merrill Lynch CEO made $83 million

(Newser) - Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an AP analysis reveals. Benefits at bailed-out institutions like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and JPMorgan Chase included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs,...

Exec Pay Likely to Stay in Stratosphere
Exec Pay Likely to Stay
in Stratosphere
ANALYSIS
Dec 21, 2008 7:13 AM CST

Exec Pay Likely to Stay in Stratosphere

Gov't measures to curb cash have backfired with strategies to win execs even more

(Newser) - Will the financial crisis slash the pay of executives who helped get us into the mess? Probably not, if past trends continue, writes David S. Hilzenrath in the Washington Post. When government in the past has fought to curb bosses’ cash flow, corporate boards have generally found a way to...

Profits Were Fake, Bonuses All Too Real

How risky schemes left bankers flush, banks broke

(Newser) - Dow Kim was one of the leading bond traders at Merrill Lynch, and in 2006 he bundled together $500 million in loans into a huge CDO with the charming name Costa Bella. Since the subprime collapse, Costa Bella has cost Merrill millions—but Kim had already cashed out, awarded a...

Bailout Exec Pay Limits Have No Bite

Critics say White House added language to bailout bill that blunted super-pay language

(Newser) - Thanks to a last-minute change pushed by the Bush administration, the $700 billion bailout has a giant loophole Wall Street executives will be able to float golden parachutes through. Congress put unprecedented restrictions on lofty pay into the final bill, but the only enforceable one became inapplicable after a one-sentence...

Morgan Stanley to Withhold Bonuses Until Bets Pay Off

Wall Street showing bonus season restraint

(Newser) - Attempting to curb criticism after taking billions in government bailout cash, Morgan Stanley has attached a “claw-back” provision to employee bonuses this year that allows the bank to withhold payouts if employees don’t manage risk properly. The Wall Street behemoth will hold onto a portion of employees’ bonuses...

Merrill CEO Backs Off $10M Bonus Request

Wall Street climate pressures Thain to forgo year-end check

(Newser) - Under a wave of criticism, Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain today gave up asking for a $5-to-$10 million bonus, the Wall Street Journal reports. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called the request "nothing less than shocking" during an "abysmal year" in which Merrill lost $11 billion. Thain...

Merrill Boss Seeks $10M Bonus

Directors unlikely to comply given public sentiment

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch narrowly escaped extinction this fall, and CEO John Thain is seeking an end-of-year bonus of as much as $10 million for keeping the company alive, reports the Wall Street Journal. Merrill's board of directors—acutely aware of public scrutiny—appear unlikely to fork over that kind of package...

Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50%
 Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50% 
Dec 3, 2008 7:35 AM CST

Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50%

Still facing the fallout from the sub-prime meltdown, the firm slashes pay for 60,900 employees

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch, facing losses of $13.3 billion this year and with revenues off 96% from a year ago, will slash year-end bonuses at least 50%, Bloomberg reports. Some employees may face steeper cuts. Merrill and Bank of America, which agreed to acquire the failing investment bank earlier this year,...

Bailout CEOs: Make Them Share Taxpayer Risk
Bailout CEOs: Make Them Share Taxpayer Risk
analysis
Dec 2, 2008 12:36 PM CST

Bailout CEOs: Make Them Share Taxpayer Risk

When taxpayers have to take a stake, CEOs should have to do the same

(Newser) - As taxpayers become stakeholders in the very firms that made this economic mess, it’s become easy to say that losing CEOs should be stripped of their salaries, writes Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times. But driving out good CEOs is no way to rebuild the banking sector....

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