Citi exec's pay package may spark gov't showdown

AP / Yahoo ^ | July 25, 2009 | unknown

[Need4Truth]

The hefty 2009 pay package of Andrew J. Hall, leader of Citigroup Inc.'s lucrative Phibro energy trading unit, may spark a showdown between the New York-based bank and government pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.

[Need4Truth]

Some execs won't share the sacrifice. Didn't they get the message? What's an Obama pay czar gonna do?

[GeronL]

Someone should investigate how Buffet made $4 billion profit from a bailed out company during the worst recession in a century... did he essentially recieve taxpayer money??

[the invisib1e hand]

A profitable trader is a cash cow, a profit center. He returns capital with interest and profit on top. He's paid a cut of his revenue, and that's never gonna change.

Put a stop to it, and liquidity instantly evaporates, bid-ask spreads skyrocket, and the risk premium users must now shoulder (that traders were shouldering) squeezes what's left of profits -- commerce retreats to the dark ages.

I dare you, Rahm.

[impimp]

Well said! It is good to hear from someone who understands the true benevolence of the trader.

[SERKIT]

Will Barry's Pay Czar act retroactively on Raines, Gorelick, and Johnson? /rhetorical

[Paleo Conservative]

I wonder what Barney Frank has to say about his package.

[Arguendo]

So let me get this straight. There is no argument that he doesn’t make Citigroup far more than $100 million. The only argument is that $100 million is “too much money” to pay someone.

I guarantee there are numerous banks and hedge funds, in the US and abroad, that would be happy to poach Hall. I wonder if this is what Obama wants.

[proxy_user]

That’s probably why the banks who could pay back TARP money did so. Now they can hire this guy away from Citicorp - which is 1/3 owned by the government, and needs to make money any way it can.

[ronnietherocket2]

I can’t believe that you want talent to remain in America.

[Arguendo]

Yeah what was I thinking. Nothing’s worse than talent when it comes to breeding inequality.

[the invisib1e hand]

Well said! It is good to hear from someone who understands the true benevolence of the trader.

Thanks. I wouldn't call it benevolence, though...