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Merrill bonuses made 696 millionaires

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  • Merrill bonuses made 696 millionaires

    WASHINGTON: Merrill Lynch quietly paid out at least one million dollars bonus each to about 700 top executive even when the investment house
    bleeding with losses last year, a probe has revealed.

    They were part of 3.6 billion dollars in the firm's bonus payments in December before the announcement of its fourth quarterly losses and takeover by Bank of America, the investigation by the New York state Attorney General's office showed.

    "696 individuals received bonuses of one million dollars or more," New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said of the Merrill scandal in a letter to a lawmaker heading the House of Representatives financial services committee.

    Cuomo said "these payments and their curious timing raise serious questions as to whether the Merrill Lynch and Bank of America boards of directors were derelict in their duties and violated their fiduciary obligations," according to a copy of the letter.

    Bank of America said recently it was aware of the amounts and timing of the bonuses even though previous reports had suggested the top bank was surprised by the payout.

    Cuomo said in his letter to Democratic lawmaker Barney Frank that his office was also examining whether senior officials at both companies "violated their own fiduciary obligations to shareholders.

    "If they did, this raises additional serious issues with regard to the inappropriate use of taxpayer funds," he said.

    "Merrill Lynch's decision to secretly and prematurely award approximately 3.6 billion dollars in bonuses, and Bank of America's apparent complicity in it, raise serious and disturbing questions," he said.

    Shareholders and experts had expressed concern over Merrill's 15.3 billion fourth-quarter loss, which caused Bank of America to request a second round of government bailout on January 16.

    Bank of America's shareholders voted to approve Merrill's takeover on December 5.

    Former Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain, Bank of America chief administrative officer J. Steele Alphin and other top executives have been summoned to provide testimony in the probe.

    "One disturbing question that must be answered is whether Merrill Lynch and Bank of America timed the bonuses in such a way as to force taxpayers to pay for them through the deal funding," Cuomo said.

    Cuomo said the Merrill Lynch bonus payment was "nothing short of staggering."

    While more than 39,000 Merrill employees received bonuses from the pool, the vast majority of these funds were "disproportionately distributed to a small number of individuals."

    "Indeed, Merrill chose to make millionaires out of a select group of 700 employees
    *****************************
    A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office.


    Just me and my NT...

  • #2
    Exemplary form of corporate governance!
    Opportunities come once

    Comment


    • #3
      nothing surprising....
      Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak

      Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen

      Quoted from Sir Winston Churchill

      Comment


      • #4
        no wonder some bankers still spending good money!!!!

        i notice some bankers in singapore still spending good $$ on watches and cars
        "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...
        the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.
        If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker." ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879-1955)

        Comment


        • #5
          Good for them, they deserved it...hope that they will come to Singapore and spend their money...

          Comment


          • #6
            i seriously wonder if the govt sld bail out these companies....

            The top execs, CEOs are getting paid top dollar... even if the company is making huge losses... somemore still got big big bonuses ??
            *****************************
            A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office.


            Just me and my NT...

            Comment


            • #7
              We can't just judge those top execs, CEOs when the company is making huge losses now... we must look ahead, look far! These companies will eventually make money. They deserved those bonuses...

              Originally posted by louisoh View Post
              i seriously wonder if the govt sld bail out these companies....

              The top execs, CEOs are getting paid top dollar... even if the company is making huge losses... somemore still got big big bonuses ??

              Comment


              • #8
                We must thank Temasek for investing in Merrill lynch

                Comment


                • #9
                  You working for Merrill?
                  Originally posted by lolex kia View Post
                  We must thank Temasek for investing in Merrill lynch

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by 116520 View Post
                    We can't just judge those top execs, CEOs when the company is making huge losses now... we must look ahead, look far! These companies will eventually make money. They deserved those bonuses...
                    okok... paiseh... its my honest mistake... lets move on..
                    *****************************
                    A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office.


                    Just me and my NT...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by lolex kia View Post
                      We must thank Temasek for investing in Merrill lynch
                      Lynched by Merrill!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        That's why those Americans are always on top of us...

                        Originally posted by lolex kia View Post
                        Lynched by Merrill!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          traders who made money for the bank shld be paid, but their management shld be canned.
                          It is with our judgments as with our watches; no two go just alike, yet each believes his own.
                          Alexander Pope

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            So those aunties wash the toilets in the bank should get layoff???


                            Originally posted by darth-khips View Post
                            traders who made money for the bank shld be paid, but their management shld be canned.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by 116520 View Post
                              That's why those Americans are always on top of us...
                              AMTK mah...if you know what I mean

                              Comment

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