So there's plenty in the news about executive compensation on Wall Street these days. Most of it centers around whether or not Andrew Hall will receive all he is owed, and if so, in what form it will be paid to him. As recently as yesterday, Citi floated the notion of paying him in stock instead of cash - an option Hall is not likely to be excited about:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&s…
However this particular drama plays out, there is a deeply troubling aspect of the new regulations that no one seems to be talking about in the press. That is the far-reaching "authority" claimed by Kenneth Feinberg, Obama's new pay czar.
Feinberg is claiming dominion over any bank that ever received TARP assistance, even if that assistance was forced upon the bank by the previous administration. This includes banks like Goldman who have already repaid the TARP money and cleared out the warrants.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2009/08/…
He also said he has the authority to use a "clawback" provision to go after compensation for executives from any company that received money from the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).In other words, even companies that have already repaid TARP funds, such as Goldman Sachs Group, could be subject to clawbacks.
It seems TARP may be the financial Roach Motel that many of us warned it would be before it was ever passed. Banks can check in, but they can never check out.
I suppose if you lay down with government dogs, you shouldn't be surprised when you wake up with fleas.
