Treasury Department "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg plans to start capping the salaries of second-tier execs at firms that received government assistance, according to company and government officials. The $500,000 cap, already imposed on top exec salaries, may now be applied to hundreds of other employees. The move has spurred Citigroup to sell billions in shares to repay the US government, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal.
Bank of America repaid its $45 billion government investment in full yesterday. It has agreed to honor the pay limits already determined for 25 execs but will not be subject to further pay curbs. Officials say Citigroup has asked for similar treatment. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy called for a global flat tax on this year's bank bonuses similar to the 50% tax imposed by the UK, although such a tax doesn't figure in Feinberg's plans.
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