pay czar

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17 TARP Banks Paid Execs Billions: Pay Czar

Payments would have violated later guidelines

(Newser) - Seventeen banks gave their top executives $1.6 billion in lavish payments while they were receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded bailouts, the Treasury Department's compensation chief said today. Kenneth Feinberg said he did not have the authority to ask the firms to repay the money handed out during the...

Pay Czar to Examine Salaries at Bailed-Out Firms

Feinberg to review compensation for top 25 executives

(Newser) - The "pay czar" will review salaries and bonuses of executives at financial firms that have received government help. Kenneth Feinberg will examine the compensation of the top 25 executives at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and 417 other firms that took TARP money. If he finds evidence of risky...

Pay Czar OKs Rule-Busting Pay at Bailout Firms

$500K cap lifted for top auto industry execs

(Newser) - "Pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg has made more exceptions to the $500,000 salary cap for execs at bailed-out firms. Compensation packages approved this week include a $9.5 million plan for GMAC CEO Michael Carpenter, which includes a $950,000 salary, Reuters reports. The exemptions were agreed to because...

Bank of America Hires News CEO From Within

Giant can't lure a star, turns to Brian Moynihan to succeed Ken Lewis

(Newser) - Bank of America's board of directors today chose consumer banking chief Brian Moynihan to replace Ken Lewis as CEO on Jan. 1. Their pick of an internal candidate followed unsuccessful attempts to hire a star industry executive for the top job at the nation's largest bank. Those negotiations were stymied...

Pay Czar Cuts Compensation at Bailout Firms

Hundreds at Citi, AIG, GM and GMAC will see pay shaved

(Newser) - White House “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg announced new compensation restrictions that will cut into the checks of hundreds of highly-paid executives at bailed out firms. Except in a handful of cases, employees at Citigroup, AIG, GM, and GMAC will have their base compensation capped at $500,000, CNNMoney reports....

US Will Let AIG Execs Skirt Pay Cap

Pay czar Feinberg will make exceptions after 5 threaten to quit

(Newser) - Treasury pay czar Kenneth Feinberg will exempt some AIG executives from a $500,000 salary cap, after at least five threatened to quit, sources tell Bloomberg . Feinberg is preparing to make a ruling on pay limits for 75 of the company’s top executives. Five threatened to resign last week...

Annoyed by Feds, AIG CEO Threatens to Quit

Benmosche, just 3 months in, is 4th CEO in 18 months

(Newser) - Just 3 months after taking the job, AIG CEO Robert Benmosche is threatening to storm out in a huff. At a directors’ meeting last week the voluble Benmosche, formerly of MetLife, told colleagues he was “done” with trying to operate the 80% taxpayer-owned company under federal supervision, particularly with...

Pay Czar Cuts Bonuses, But Boosts Salaries

Feinberg beefs up base base to help firms retain talent

(Newser) - Base pay will increase for the majority of top execs in the finance and auto firms supervised by federal pay czar Kenneth Feinberg. Salaries are being bumped up—by hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases—as bonuses and other perks are slashed. Despite the salary hikes, all 136...

AIG Chief: Pay Czar's Authority 'Limited'

He tells employees they won't lose salaries retroactively

(Newser) - Ken Feinberg won’t take your money, AIG’s chief executive told his employees yesterday. Hours after reports broke that the pay czar would be targeting the troubled insurance firm with salary caps, CEO Robert Benmosche sent a memo reassuring employees that “the Special Master's jurisdiction is quite limited,...

Pay Czar Slashes Top Salaries at 7 Bailed-Out Firms

175 top earners will see pay cuts averaging 50%

(Newser) - President Obama’s pay czar will cut compensation for the 25 highest-paid employees at seven companies that took large amounts of government aid. The 175 executives will face salary reductions of 90%, but with other compensation elements added in, the total reductions average 50%. Ken Feinberg also will require the...

Pay Czar Blocks Salary for Ken Lewis

BofA CEO will return $1M and forgo any pay this year

(Newser) - President Obama's pay czar has landed his biggest punch yet: Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis will forgo any pay this year and return $1 million he's already accepted. But don't start up a collection just yet: The reason Kenneth Feinberg made the request is because Lewis will receive about...

Pay Czar Going After AIG Bonuses—Again

But legal hurdles loom for pre-bailout deals

(Newser) - Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg is making another run at AIG’s bonus payouts—or trying to, with the help of a little arm twisting. Feinberg doesn’t have authority over the$198 million in bonuses promised to employees at the infamous trading unit because the contracts were created before the bailout....

Don't Spend Bonus Bucks Yet, Warns 'Clawback' Czar

(Newser) - Just because top banking executives took home hefty paychecks in recent months doesn't mean they'll get to keep the money, reports Reuters. White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg declared he has clear authority to "claw back" egregious bonuses already paid out by any bank that received federal TARP money....

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