Saturday, August 1, 2009

Bank Shareholders Should Determine CEO & Officers Pay

I don't know about you, but in the past I have given a cursory glance at pending issues in the materials sent about a bank and just signed. Now that we have learned, through TARP and other 'bailouts' exactly how much of bank profits have gone to the CEOs and other officers, I need to look carefully at what I sign. It's pretty obvious why the banks paid off their 'bailouts' so soon. Now, the money is theirs again to do with what they will. [salaries, bonuses].

If possible, I would like to attend the yearly shareholder meetings. Why? Because I would like more of the share of the profits, proportionate to the salaries and bonuses going to the bank officers. That argument that if I don't pay these officers enough they will work elsewhere would be mute if all bank shareholders decided these amounts for their bank and held the line. Don't the shareholders own these banks?

And do we really want the guys who got us into trouble still working for us?

Our lack of judicious rules for this industry, not to mention business in general, has put our country in economic jeopardy too often. The solution is to have the shareholders take control of their money and demand proper operations and rules. That old expression "speak up" still works.