Word: feinberg
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...Cutting the Check In the end, he made more changes to the way executives get paid than to how much. That has disappointed some critics. Feinberg ended up boosting many of the executives' base salaries from last year's, though not as much as the firms requested. Total compensation dropped, but to most people, it will look like Wall Street pay as usual. Eight of the 12 highest-paid executives at Bank of America will get more than $5 million for their work in 2009. At Citigroup, 14 execs will get at least that much...
...Feinberg's big changes are in the form of payment, particularly on Wall Street. Gone are year-end payouts and AIG-style guaranteed retention awards. Instead, he devised a method of compensating executives: something he calls salary stock. Each pay period, the executives at Bank of America, GM and the other firms will get awards of stock along with their regular paychecks. The checks can be cashed immediately, but the executives may not sell the stock for up to four years. Also, bonuses are paid in restricted stock, which must be held for at least three years...
...Many people have praised him for his emphasis on long-term compensation. But a number of pay consultants say Feinberg might have gone too far in curbing year-end bonuses. "It is fair to say that some of the pay schemes promoted bad behavior and led to excessive risk, but you still need some sort of short-term incentive," says top-pay consultant Don Delves. "People do stuff for money, and they tend to be more motivated by money they can get in the next year [than by] money they may not see for three or five years...
...real problem with Feinberg's scheme may be its reliance on the market. If we have learned anything from the financial crisis, it should be that the market can get things very, very wrong. So paying more people mostly in stock may result not in his stated goal of pay for performance but in pay for randomness. Feinberg is probably correct that his compensation structure won't hurt these firms' ability to retain top talent. Wall Streeters love to let it ride. The question is whether more people hell-bent on boosting their stock price will produce a better outcome...
...these pay packages fair? I had to balance the need for these companies to pay back what they owe taxpayers," says Feinberg. "Others may have balanced things differently, but I did what I thought was right...