NY AG details big bonuses at bailed-out banks

[Joanne98]

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup Inc., one of the biggest recipients of government bailout money, gave employees $5.33 billion in bonuses for 2008, New York's attorney general said Thursday in a report detailing the payouts by nine big banks.

The report from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office focused on 2008 bonuses paid to the initial nine banks that received loans under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program last fall. Cuomo has joined other government officials in criticizing the banks for paying out big bonuses while accepting taxpayer money.

"There is no clear rhyme or reason to the way banks compensate and reward their employees," Cuomo said in the report, noting banks have not in recent years actually tied pay to performance as they claim when describing their compensation programs. Cuomo added that when banks' performance deteriorated significantly, "they were bailed out by taxpayers and their employees were still paid well."

Citigroup, which gave 738 of its employees bonuses of at least $1 million, is now one-third owned by government as a result of its bailout. It paid bonuses of at least $3 million to 124 of those employees, even after it lost $18.7 billion during the year, Cuomo's office said.

The New York-based bank received $45 billion in government money and guarantees to protect it against hundreds of billions of dollars on potential losses from risky investments.

Bank of America Corp., which also received $45 billion in TARP money, paid $3.3 billion in bonuses, with 172 employees receiving at least $1 million. Of those, 28 received bonuses of more than $3 million. Merrill Lynch, which Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America acquired during the credit crisis, paid out $3.6 billion.




Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/NY-AG-details-big-bonuses-at-apf-477571682.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=

[fascisthunter]

1. it would be delightful to get all those names

and to protest them everywhere they go....

[TheWatcher]

4. I think it's safe to say it's gone a little bit past just protesting at this point.

I'll just leave it at that.

[fascisthunter]

5. true

[unnamedposter]

2. Bonuses Exceeded Profits

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/30/business/main5197668.shtml

[Supersedeas]

3. shhhhh

[KakistocracyHater]

6. they SHOULD have bailed out the mortgages NOT the banksters

it would have(& still could) keep people in their homes, instead of the gutted, empty houses & downward slide of neighborhoods.