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Apparently, the recently passed stimulus plan limits bonuses to 1/3rd of salary for the top 20 employees of each bank receiving government aid. Of course, bankers are unhappy about this.
But frankly, I'm wondering why we don't have bankers running through a guillotine 24/7 in Lafayette Square. At a minimum, there has been an unfortunate lack of punitive measures so far by the gov't for banks and bankers that have dipped into the federal purse. The stimulus bill should have gone further. They're government employees now.
But frankly, I'm wondering why we don't have bankers running through a guillotine 24/7 in Lafayette Square. At a minimum, there has been an unfortunate lack of punitive measures so far by the gov't for banks and bankers that have dipped into the federal purse. The stimulus bill should have gone further. They're government employees now.
US stimulus clears Congress
By Daniel Dombey and Edward Luce in Washington and Francesco Guerrera in New York
Published: February 13 2009 18:20 | Last updated: February 15 2009 19:21
The biggest economic stimulus in US history cleared the US Congress late on Friday night, in a victory for Barack Obama less than a month after he took office as president.
The $787bn package, which is now ready for Mr Obama to sign into law, represents the most important legislative effort yet to pull the US out of its recession.
Under a little-noticed amendment, the package also imposes tough caps on top bankers working for US financial groups that have received government aid.
Wall Street executives are enraged by the new pay rules, which will limit bankers’ bonuses to just a third of their total compensation and force them to take it in stock that cannot be sold until their companies repay the government funds.
Bankers argued that the amendment, introduced by Chris Dodd, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, would cause a brain drain from the industry and could have the counterproductive effect of pushing up annual cash salaries.
Bankers’ bonuses are typically several times their salaries and capping them at one-third of their total compensation would result in a large pay cut for many high-flying Wall Street employees.
By Daniel Dombey and Edward Luce in Washington and Francesco Guerrera in New York
Published: February 13 2009 18:20 | Last updated: February 15 2009 19:21
The biggest economic stimulus in US history cleared the US Congress late on Friday night, in a victory for Barack Obama less than a month after he took office as president.
The $787bn package, which is now ready for Mr Obama to sign into law, represents the most important legislative effort yet to pull the US out of its recession.
Under a little-noticed amendment, the package also imposes tough caps on top bankers working for US financial groups that have received government aid.
Wall Street executives are enraged by the new pay rules, which will limit bankers’ bonuses to just a third of their total compensation and force them to take it in stock that cannot be sold until their companies repay the government funds.
Bankers argued that the amendment, introduced by Chris Dodd, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, would cause a brain drain from the industry and could have the counterproductive effect of pushing up annual cash salaries.
Bankers’ bonuses are typically several times their salaries and capping them at one-third of their total compensation would result in a large pay cut for many high-flying Wall Street employees.
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