Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Man Tries to Order Priciest Starbucks Drink Ever Total cost: $23.60 »

New Pay Rules May Hurt Banks, but Protect Public

They'll discourage commercial banks from being investment banks

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 23, 2009 8:33 AM CDT

(Newser) – Steven Pearlstein isn't exactly wowed by the new salary rules being proposed for Wall Street. "Don't get carried away. By themselves, these measures won't prevent future crises, nor will they likely do much to lower the prevailing pay levels on Wall Street or in corporate America." But, he writes, they do have elements of meaningful reform. It's time, after all, for commercial bankers to stop behaving like investment bankers.

Under the Fed rules, banks would no longer be able to give sky-high bonuses to traders who work in risky fields such as derivatives. Banks will no doubt complain that this puts them at an unfair advantage against unregulated hedge funds and the like. "They may be right," writes Pearlstein in the Washington Post. "But if it turns out that these pay rules wind up steering the riskiest activity to smaller, more focused institutions whose failure won't require them to be bailed out by the taxpayer, that might be a good thing."

Pay czar Kenneth R. Feinberg in a 2007 file photo.
Pay czar Kenneth R. Feinberg in a 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Kenneth R. Feinberg in a 2007 file photo.
Kenneth R. Feinberg in a 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Big paychecks won't go away, but the new compensation rules have solid elements of reform.
Big paychecks won't go away, but the new compensation rules have solid elements of reform.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

We know what happened when the button-down commercial bankers were let loose a decade ago to start competing with, and behaving like, investment bankers.
- Steven Pearlstein

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
cornelison
Oct 24, 2009 1:07 AM CDT
Hi Shan. We can thank the idiocy of cable news to cover something easy(prize) rather than real news that affects all of us.
Shannonals
Oct 23, 2009 9:35 AM CDT
The shareholders were informed of the bonuses cornelsion, otherwise I'm quite sure they would have protested considering how much they have lost prior to the bailout. What I find strange is the fact that these bonuses weren't covered more in detail by the, "Fair and Balance", team, considering the Bailout was so negative in the publics eyes. The outrage over the President winning the nobel Peace Prize had more coverage than banks paying out large amounts of bonuses.
cornelison
Oct 23, 2009 7:26 AM CDT
What I can't figure out is why shareholders approve of those big bonuses. It means less for them, doesn't it?

More Newser Stories

Hey, Wall Street: Shut Up About Bonuses

SEC Letting Big Banks Skirt Fraud Penalties

Bank of America May Pull Out of Some Areas

Wall Street Bonuses to Plummet

Stock Rally Stutters


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne