Citigroup gives pay hikes to top execs in stock

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

Citigroup, still partly owned by the government after a rescue during the financial meltdown, is giving raises to top executives that could amount to millions of dollars.

CEO Vikram Pandit, who is drawing a salary of $1 for the second year in a row, did not get a raise, but the chairman of the bank hinted it plans a big payout for him next year.

The announcement Friday by Citi, which remains weaker than most of the large American banks two years after the meltdown, raised questions among experts on corporate governance.

By paying the raises in company stock, not cash, Citi has decided to follow previously issued guidelines that limited salaries to $500,000 for the top 25 executives at financial institutions still receiving large amounts of federal help.

... The biggest raise disclosed in Citi's regulatory filing will go to John Havens, head of the bank's institutional clients group. He will get a cash salary of $500,000 this year, the maximum under the cap, and $9 million of salary paid in stock.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Citigroup-gives-pay-hikes-to-apf-3104137989.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Their stock is trading at like $4/share

Is this Treasury (repurchased) stock, diluted new stock or options?

Either way - anything that refocuses on the long term as opposed to management-by-quarter is a step in the right direction.

I will remain skeptical.

[Angry Dragon]

2. Then as an owner of Citigroup I DEMAND stock options also