Regulation

Pay Czar Makes It Clear: If You're A Highly Ambitious Banker, Don't Join Bank Of America

10/16/2009 by Research Reloaded

It's completely ridiculous that the new American "pay czar" has been able to deny former Bank of America chief Ken Lewis part of his pay package.

The Treasury Department's pay czar pushed outgoing Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth D. Lewis into giving back about $1 million he received so far this year and forgoing the rest of his $1.5 million salary for 2009, say people familiar with the matter.

The move makes Mr. Lewis the biggest target so far of Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury's "special master" for compensation. He also asked that Mr. Lewis pass up any 2009 bonus from the Charlotte, N.C., bank.

Mr. Lewis is still walking away with a lot of money, almost $70m I believe, which shows that this Czar action was merely symbolic. Kenneth Feinberg (the Czar) is now investigating almost 200 highly paid employees who unfortunately happen to fall under his authoritarian control. This sends a horrible message. Essentially, it says that if you are highly ambitious in your career, don't join any bank associated with the U.S. goverment. Join another bank that will pay you as much as you can command.

Speculators, Not Government, First Sounded The Housing Alarm

08/07/2009 by Research Reloaded

It is interesting to note that speculative markets, not government institutions were the first to sound the alarm when it came to the US housing bubble. And actually... not only were government institutions asleep at the wheel in terms of warning people that prices had gone too far, but they were actually contributing to the problem and helping to inflate the bubble further. It was speculative markets that sounded the alarm in 2007, keeping future capital away from jumping off a cliff, and preventing the bubble from running longer and crashing harder. (Hat tip to one of our readers for this great nugget)

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