Wrong Answer
At Zions Bancorp.'s annual meeting Tuesday, Harris Simmons, the $54.5 billion-asset Salt Lake City company's chief executive, outlined why the board was recommending that shareholders reject a "say on pay" proposal that would give them a nonbinding advisory vote permanently on executive compensation.According to Simmons, giving shareholders a strict up or down vote on executive pay would provide "little, if any, useful feedback" on the efficacy of Zions' policies.
He also said it was akin to when his wife asks him what he wants for dinner.
"If I say yes, it's not a productive conversation," Simmons said, eliciting laughter from his audience.
The board and managers encourage shareholders to contact them to suggest ways to improve compensation policies or on any other matter, Simmons said.
The outcome of the vote has not been announced, so it is unclear whether the laughter was a sign of broad support or polite chuckles.
No B of A in Team
Bank of America Corp. said this week that it would end its 16-year sponsorship with the U.S. Olympic Committee if the terms cannot be reworked.The Charlotte company said its decision had nothing to do with complaints that big banking companies have continued sports marketing programs after receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program investments.
Joe Goode, a B of A spokesman, said the plan had more to do with the relationship failing to meet financial parameters. "This became an extremely difficult and emotional decision for us. This was not about reducing marketing expenses, the Tarp or the economy. However, we've always struggled with generating sufficient business results from this particular sponsorship."
B of A will evaluate other ways to support Olympians, which in the past included highlighting certain athletes and offering amenities to participants' families during the games, Goode said.
The company has long defended its sponsorship of sporting events. Ken Lewis, its president and CEO, said during a March speech in Boston that it gets $10 of revenue and $3 of profits for every dollar it spends on sports marketing.
And Lewis was well noted at the time for saying he would rather spend the weekend in the mountains with his wife than hanging out with a bunch of jocks.
Jobs A-Wastin'
A good compliance officer is hard to find — that's the sentiment expressed by 2,000 companies polled last month by eFinancialCareers Ltd.Respondents said they are having more difficulty finding qualified compliance talent than any other type of worker, despite layoffs that have flooded the market with resumes.
"With the regulatory changes that are around the corner … you're going to need to have more people in the compliance sector," said John Benson, the CEO and founder of eFinancialCareers. "If you are good, and you are in compliance, you are somebody who is not likely to have been let go."
Respondents said accountants and auditors were the two other hardest-to-fill positions. Benson said the unemployment rate for accountants is about 2.8% right now, well below the national average of 8.6%.
Benson's Web site currently lists 1,150 finance jobs available in the United States, including 120 in accounting, 30 to 40 in compliance and 20 to 30 in auditing.
Those with experience in structuring mortgage-related derivatives are the least in demand, he said. That is "probably a tough skill set to be selling at the moment."
Slimdown Artist
As a JPMorgan Securities Inc. investment banker, James von Moltke played a big role in reshaping the Asian financial services landscape after the region's 1990s financial crisis.Now he will help redesign the landscape at Citigroup Inc., which hired him Thursday to oversee divestitures and dealmaking as it navigates a crisis of its own.
Most recently, von Moltke ran the global securities industry investment banking practice at Morgan Stanley, where he handled client relationships and transactions involving exchanges, brokers and companies that supply technology and processing services to the securities industry.
Citi will draw on his contacts and expertise in many of those areas as it tries to shed businesses. As the head of corporate mergers and acquisitions, he succeeded Vince Fandozzi. Fandozzi will move into another senior role within the company to be announced shortly, Citi said.
