Bank of America Has Built a “Fortress Balance Sheet”

A short number of years ago, no one in his right mind would have associated the term “fortress balance sheet” with Bank of America.   During the financial crisis, Bank of America was forced to accept a massive $45 billion bailout from the U.S. Treasury.  As the financial system imploded during 2008 many people wondered if […]

Citigroup’s CEO Walks Off With A Quarter $Billion – Shareholders Down 89%

After being ousted by a proactive board of directors on Tuesday, Citigroup’s former chief executive Vikram Pandit is unlikely to suffer a decline in his standard of living. As CEO of Citigroup, a $1.9 trillion asset global banking giant, Mr. Pandit was paid a relatively modest base salary of $1.67 million during 2011.  During 2009 […]

Barclays Libor Scandal Expands – Why British Taxpayers Will Pay In The End

The Barclays Libor scandal continues to escalate after revelations that senior officials at the Bank of England pressured Barclays to artificially lower the Libor rate.  Documents released by Barclays suggest that U.K. treasury officials pressured Barclays to lower the Libor rate.  This latest development threatens to turn the Libor rate fixing scandal into a showdown […]

Ridiculous Divergence Between Bank CEO Pay And Shareholder Returns

The wide divergence between bank CEO compensation and shareholder returns is an embarrassment to the capitalist notion of linkage between performance and pay. Shareholders of banking stocks have seen the value of their investments pulverized over the past four years as the banking industry struggles to recover from the lending excesses of previous years.  Shareholders […]

Bank of America Executives Win, Shareholders Lose – It’s Not Supposed To Work This Way

Most shareholders understand that an investment in a public company entails risk – that’s what capitalism is all about.  Well managed companies with great products generally wind up enriching shareholders over time and no one begrudges the fact that executives of a successful enterprise are well paid. What a lot of shareholders don’t understand, however, […]

Big Bank CEOs Take Home Massive Paychecks As Savers and Shareholders Get Crushed

Right or wrong, most consumers have an overwhelmingly negative opinion about big banks.   According to a survey by Research and Markets, 86% of social media comments about U.S. and European banks are negative. The negative perception of big banks by the public has become so pervasive that most bank executives probably just ignore it at […]

Banking Regulators Say Banks Encouraged “Imprudent Risks” With Flawed Pay Incentives

Regulators Tell Bankers That Pay Should Be “Risk Adjusted” June 21, 2010 – The nation’s top banking regulators today moved to curb flawed incentive compensation plans that encouraged banking employees to take imprudent risks.  Citing pay practices that contributed to the recent financial crisis, regulators issued financial institutions final guidance  to ensure that incentive compensation […]