Government Allowed Huge Exec Pay at Bailout Firms

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From Reuters

“While taxpayers struggle to overcome the recent financial crisis and look to the U.S. government to put a lid on compensation for executives of firms whose missteps nearly crippled the U.S. financial system, the U.S. Department of the Treasury continues to allow excessive executive pay,” the [Inspector General’s] report said.

In 2012, the pay czar acceded to company requests in approving multimillion-dollar pay packages and pay hikes for top executives at General Motors, AIG and Ally Financial.

The Special Master approved all 18 pay raises requested by the companies, for a total of $6.2 million, and approved pay packages of at least $1 million for 68 of the 69 employees at the companies it was overseeing, the report found.

The report also points to a case where the Treasury approved a $50,000 raise when the company’s reasoning was just that they wanted to “do a little extra for him.” The Treasury’s own rules say salaries should rarely top $500,000, but last year a third of top execs got more than that, a number that’s quadrupled since 2009.

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