Banks pour rewards to top executives amid financial crisis
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 23 December 2008, 21:54 IST   |    7 Comments
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Washington: Nothing seems to be affected to the organizations' policy on their reward to the top level employees amid the financial crunch. Banks that are getting tax payer bailouts have given their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses and other benefits last year, as per an Associated Press analysis. Despite marking poor results which gave a clear indication on the upcoming economic downturn in the last year, the banks were pouring rewards to their employees in top level. Some trimmed their executive compensation due to lagging bank performance, but still forked over multimillion-dollar executive pay packages. Executives' rewards included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management. According to the AP review of federal securities, the total amount given to nearly 600 executives would cover bailout costs for many of the 116 banks that have so far accepted tax dollars to boost their bottom lines. AP's compilation of total compensation was based on annual reports that banks filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It shows that 116 banks have so far received $188 billion in taxpayer help. The AP reports further reveals that average paid to each of banks' top executives was $2.6 million in salary, bonuses and benefits. Lloyd Blankfein, President and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs has received nearly $54 million in compensation last year only. The company's top five executives have received a total of $242 million. At the same time, the company reported its first quarterly loss since it went public in 1999. It received $10 billion in taxpayer money on October 28. Though some banks have cut back on pay, some executives were left with seven-or-eight-figure compensation that most people can only dream about. For instance, Richard D. Fairbank, the Chairman of Capital One Financial , took a $1 million hit in compensation after his company had a disappointing year, but still got $17 million in stock options. Among the corporate bosses who received high compensation, John A Thain, Chief Executive Officer of Merrill Lynch placed the top with $83 million earnings last year. Meanwhile, the company got $10 billion from taxpayers on October 28. Similarly, Bank of New York Mellon's Robert Chief Executive P Kelly's stipend for financial planning services came to $66,748, on top of his $975,000 salary and $7.5 million bonus. James Dimon, Chairman, JPMorgan Chase ran up a $211,182 private jet travel tab last year when his family lived in Chicago and he was commuting to New York. The company got $25 billion in bailout funds. JPMorgan Chase Chairman James Dimon ran up a $211,182 private jet travel tab last year when his family lived in Chicago and he was commuting to New York. The company got $25 billion in bailout funds.

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