Reining in top pay
The United States is not the only country where taxpayers worry about top executives exploiting the public bailout for personal gain. Germany and Sweden recently joined the list of nations putting limits on financiers’ compensation within their bank rescue plans. Germany is looking at a $670,000 salary cap ó with bonuses, stock options and severance barred ó for top executives in participating banks. The U.S. plan places long overdue limits on corporate tax deductions on executive pay and golden parachutes. That might not be going far enough. It’s time to rein in the cowboys who caused this stampede.