Remember when Congress assured the American people that any bank executives whose banks were the beneficiaries of the $700bn bailout deal would be now subject to pay cuts? Well, as it turns out this was a lie.
A Guardian online report tonight shows that about 10% of that 700 billion dollars Congress approved is now going straight to the bankers themselves.
Financial workers at Wall Street's top banks are to receive pay deals worth more than $70bn (£40bn), a substantial proportion of which is expected to be paid in discretionary bonuses, for their work so far this year - despite plunging the global financial system into its worst crisis since the 1929 stock market crash, the Guardian has learned.
These bonuses are so extravagant that in some cases they actually outweigh the value of the company.
At one point last week the Morgan Stanley $10.7bn pay pot for the year to date was greater than the entire stock market value of the business. In effect, staff, on receiving their remuneration, could club together and buy the bank.
The money these men earn is comparable to that of the world's top sports stars and hollywood celebrities. These figures represent the greed that has taken over the market. When you look at some of the final figures to get these men on their way to retirement, it might change your view of this entire bailout package. I understand that these guys deserve good money for what i'm sure is a hard job. I mean, i could probably run a bank into the ground like the best of them. But these men are practically wizards/warlocks in this area.
Much of the anger about investment banking bonuses has focused on boardroom executives such as former Lehman boss Dick Fuld, who was paid $485m in salary, bonuses and options between 2000 and 2007.
Last year Merrill Lynch's chairman Stan O'Neal retired after announcing losses of $8bn, taking a final pay deal worth $161m. Citigroup boss Chuck Prince left last year with a $38m in bonuses, shares and options after multibillion-dollar write-downs. In Britain, Bob Diamond, Barclays president, is one of the few investment bankers whose pay is public. Last year he received a salary of £250,000, but his total pay, including bonuses, reached £36m
Did you read that last part there? He received over 35million pounds in bonuses. The entire banking payment system seems to be based on incentives! One wonders how he got those bonuses.
So next time you get you look at the figure the banks are asking from the taxpayer (surely they will come begging for more) extract 10 percent and that, my friends, is what they call their piece of the greed pie.
Link for full article here :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...