Citigroup Paid Employees $13M for Scrapped Resort Trip

Bahamas trip for top performers was nixed after spotlight put on bank's spending
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 10, 2009 5:07 AM CDT
Citigroup Paid Employees $13M for Scrapped Resort Trip
Top-performing Citigroup employees whose trip to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas was scrapped were paid a total of $13 million to make up for it.   (AP Photo/Macduff Everton)

Citigroup employees whose jaunts to the Bahamas were canceled amid scrutiny of the bailed-out bank's spending were paid $13 million in compensation for the scrapped getaway, insiders tell Bloomberg. Sales agents—all 1900 of them—who had been scheduled to stay at a swanky resort were paid $5,000 each, while 2,000 brokerage advisers were given debit cards worth up to $3,000.

The Bahamas junket was one of several scrapped by financial firms after President Obama's recent warning that bailed out companies "can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime.” A Citi spokeswoman defended the payouts, saying it was necessary to retain top performers in some of the banks' still-profitable units. Federal officials are currently discussing more aid for Citigroup, which has already collected $45 billion in bailout funds.
(More Citigroup stories.)

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