Thursday, September 10, 2009

Top U.S. Banker: Criticism of Excessive Bonuses "Appropriate"

Now this guy deserves a medal. Why isn't his comments front page news? And why aren't the politicians saying I told you so? Maybe they don't care? Maybe the bailout of Wall St. was a mistake?

A top US banker has said that public anger about excessive bonuses paid out by financial institutions is both "understandable and appropriate".

Lloyd Blankfein, head of Goldman Sachs, also said that payouts guaranteed over a number of years should be banned.

His own firm was recently criticised for setting aside billions of dollars to be paid out in bonuses.

Many blame excessive bonuses for the short-term risk taking that helped bring about the financial crisis.

Mr Blankfein, one of Wall Street's best paid bankers, said "there is little justification for the payment of outsized discretionary compensation when a financial institution lost money for the year".

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