FDIC Chief Seeks Limits on 'Eye-Popping' Banker Pay

Sweeping new rules will let central bank reject risky compensation plans

(NEWSER) - A wide-ranging plan by the Federal Reserve to limit executive pay would allow government regulators to probe private financial institution's pay practices—and let the Fed block any policy it thinks may encourage undue risk. The plan is still being formulated and won't be finished for weeks, but it requires only a board vote and not approval from Congress. For the Wall Street Journal, the compensation plan is the latest show of muscle from an increasingly assertive central bank. More»

Firms paid more than they made: Cuomo

(NEWSER) - The financial crisis and government bailouts did little to change Wall Street’s executive compensation habits, New York's attorney general says. All nine banks given assistance by TARP paid out bonuses in 2008—well before any paid back government loans, according to a survey ordered by Andrew Cuomo. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase actually paid more in bonuses than the firms made for the year, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

NY AG releases breakdown of bonus figures; plans to press AIG for names

(NEWSER) - AIG's $165 million in bonuses went 418 different ways, according to one angry attorney general. Other figures released by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who subpoenaed the firm on Monday:

• 73 employees received bonuses of $1 million or more
• 11 of those people no longer work for AIG
• 7 employees received bonuses of more than $4 million
• The top recipient received a $6.4 million bonus

Bank decided on bonuses earlier than claimed, he says

(NEWSER) - Andrew Cuomo is turning the screws a little tighter in his investigation of bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives. In a court filing today, the New York attorney general accused the bank of "misleading" Congress about when it decided to dole out $3.6 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. He cited a letter written Nov. 24 in which the company said any decision on bonuses would be made at the end of the year. In fact, the decision had been made two weeks earlier, he said. More»

Subpoena issued after CEO's grilleing by Merrill bonus probe

(NEWSER) - Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis has been ordered to hand over a full list of Merrill Lynch execs who received bonuses just before the bank took over the company, reports Reuters. Lewis was grilled for hours yesterday in the offices of New York AG Andrew Cuomo, who's looking into $3.6 billion in bonuses handed out ahead of the government-backed merger. More»