WASHINGTON–Community banks are lobbying the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve Board to shield them from new compensation guidelines that could limit executive pay. The guidelines are included as part of the larger regulatory reform plan working its way through Congress.
In comment letters on the Fed's proposed compensation guidance, community bankers argue they did not pay the exorbitant bonuses that have fueled widespread anger at Wall Street and do not have the resources to review their pay programs as thoroughly as the central bank would like.
“Quite frankly, I have more than enough to do right now in my efforts to keep up with all of the other changes that have or soon will be imposed on us,” Albert Christman, the president and chief executive of Delhi Bancshares, Inc. in Louisiana, wrote in a letter to the Fed, according to American Banker, an affiliate of Credit Union Journal. “I really don’t need another issue to deal with, especially one that will not be helpful in any way to anyone.”
In their letters, industry representatives also raised concerns about the impact the Fed's guidance might have on retaining employees and defended the use of so-called golden parachutes that allow executives to walk away from a company with a large check, American Banker reported.
