Feedback: Golden Parachutes, Not 'Subsidy,' Responsible for TBTF

Regarding Column: To End TBTF, Remove 'Subsidy' [May 4, 2010], the underlying issue is that bank executives and boards do not actually care if their institution fails because they had their golden parachutes in place, before they even earned them, when they came on board.

I believe that for every institution put on the FDIC's "endangered list", no bonus payments, whether based on individual merit or contract, should be paid nor "enhanced salaries" issued unless and until that institution is removed from that list. No retroactive stuff, either.

Can our government do this? That is another question.

Once you have the officers of the bank pre-inspired to fix the problem before it occurs (by making them ineligible for any bonus money if the institution is failing), I would not be surprised if many institutions presently on the verge of collapse would mysteriously come back from the dead.

Let these executive "leaders" lead their institutions out of trouble.  When they've proven that ability, then remove the freeze and duly recognize their true value to the institution.

It isn't about the overall institutional that fails, it is about each and every employee being motivated to keep his or her job.

I vote for people that want to succeed for the good of all, not for the selfish and greedy executives that come and go, taking our hard-earned profits with them.

Steve Westerlund
Consultant, FIS
Naperville, Il.

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