C'mon, Mr Prez, Nobody Will Run Bank for $500K

Package bans cash bonuses for bailed-out firms' high earners

(NEWSER) - A late addition to the stimulus package puts tougher restrictions on executive pay at bailed-out financial institutions, reports the Wall Street Journal. The rules go further than the Obama administration proposed, affect more employees, and could seriously crimp the culture of gargantuan bonuses. The big one: Bonuses can't exceed one-third of annual salaries. If banks don't play along, they have to return their bailout money. More»

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 stock dividends. More»

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration has devised a maybe-legal method of avoiding Congress’ restrictions on companies that accept bailout funds, including limits on executive pay and a requirement that taxpayers get an ownership stake in the firms, the Washington Post reports. To sidestep the restrictions, the administration has created special entities to act as middlemen between the government and the firms it aims to help. More»

(NEWSER) - Amid growing dissatisfaction with government restrictions on bailout funds, President Obama will meet with bank CEOs on Friday, Reuters reports. Several banks have indicated that they will repay their TARP loans to avoid new government rules. In the meeting with execs from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and others, Obama will urge them to “look beyond our own short-term interests,” an aide said. More»

(NEWSER) - All the hubbub around AIG and its bonuses is “a complete farce,” Larry Kudlow writes in the National Review. No one should be surprised that those in charge have “completely bungled” the situation. “The government shouldn’t run anything, because it cannot run anything,” Kudlow writes. And the Obama administration was “undoubtedly informed” about the bonuses months ago. More»