CEOs Push Back on Bonus Tax
针对可能对华尔街奖金课以重税的法案，美国三大银行的首席执行长上周五作出了回击。花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)首席执行长潘伟迪(Vikram Pandit)和美国银行(Bank of America Corp.)首席执行长刘易斯(Kenneth Lewis)分别向公司员工发布备忘录，批评这一税项可能会让他们难以留住人才。摩根大通(J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.)首席执行长戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)在一个电话会议上宽慰公司前200位高管说，摩根大通正在就此事与华盛顿积极交涉。促使这些高管作出反应的是华盛顿针对华尔街奖金问题的最新举措。事情的缘由是，依靠联邦政府救助才得以维持运营的保险巨头美国国际集团(AIG)打算向导致公司巨额亏损的一个部门员工支付1.65亿美元的奖金；上周这一事情公布后，华盛顿对华尔街巨额薪酬的怒火终于是忍无可忍。美国众议院上周四通过一项法案；根据该法案规定，从政府金融救助项目接受资金超过50亿美元的公司中，家庭年收入超过25万美元员工的奖金将按90%的税率征收附加税。美国参议院正在考虑一项类似计划，可能最快会在本周进行表决。从美国政府的问题资产救助计划(TARP)中获得救助资金超过50亿美元的银行有八家，包括花旗集团摩根大通美国银行高盛集团(Goldman Sachs Group)摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)PNC Financial Services Group和U.S. Bancorp等。花旗的潘伟迪表示，这项举措可能会影响到“无数”员工，他们可能会难以偿还奖金。潘伟迪指出，并不是金融服务业的所有员工都需要为当前这场经济危机负责；他补充说，那些需要为花旗眼下困境负责的人已经离职，花旗已经采取迅速举措精简旗下业务。潘伟迪向花旗30万名员工发表备忘录说，如果国会对金融服务业员工征收特别税，导致我们失去出色员工，那么我们为稳定金融体系推动经济再次运转所做的所有努力都有可能遭受重大挫折。在美国主要金融机构之中，戴蒙领导的摩根大通被认为是状况最好的。戴蒙说，留住人才对摩根大通仍然很重要，银行正在和华盛顿的议员们进行积极交涉。摩根大通一位发言人证实，戴蒙鼓励公司员工打电话给选区议员，告诉他们自己的感受。美国银行的刘易斯说，自己最为担忧的就是员工基本的公平。他说，美国银行通过收购陷入困境的Countrywide Financial和美林公司(Merrill Lynch)，为解决这场金融危机作出了一定贡献。刘易斯称这项奖金特别税“极其不公平”。他说：很多员工并没有参与制造眼下的危机，我担心银行难以留住一些最有价值的员工。美国银行目前正采取措施，在全公司范围内裁员3万至3.5万人。刘易斯对员工说，你们谁都不应该被拿回更多的薪酬。刘易斯在备忘录中写道：我还担心这些计划有可能危害到政府推动金融业复苏的能力。政府的很多计划是基于私营部门愿意与政府签约合作的基础上的。如果私营领域的投资者或公司认为政府的规定会不分青红皂白地朝令夕改，那么他们就不会愿意参与进来。华盛顿也并非人人都支持对华尔街奖金课以重税。以往直言不讳批评美国银行巨头的联邦存款保险公司(FDIC)董事长贝尔(Sheila Bair)上周五表示，对华尔街奖金课以重税的举动令人担忧。她在凤凰城发表演说称，一些人才确实比别的一些人出色，一些人也确实需要得到更多的报酬。Jay Miller相关阅读美众议院通过奖金税法案 附加税高达90% 2009-03-20AIG奖金事件的教训 2009-03-20向奖金开炮 2009-03-20
The chief executives of the nation's three largest banks on Friday pushed back against legislation that would heavily tax Wall Street bonuses.Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit and Bank of America Corp.'s Kenneth Lewis both issued memos to employees criticizing a tax that would make it hard to retain workers. And J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon reassured his 200 top executives in a conference call that the bank is actively engaging Washington on the matter.The executives are responding to Washington's latest salvo against Wall Street bonuses. Outrage about massive payouts came to a head this week when it was learned that embattled insurer American International Group Inc., which has received federal government funding to keep it operating, would pay $165 million in bonuses to employees of a unit that caused massive losses at the company.The House passed legislation on Thursday to impose a 90% surtax on bonuses granted to employees with household income of more than $250,000 at companies that received at least $5 billion from the government's financial rescue program.The Senate is considering a similar plan that could be up for a vote as soon as next week. Eight banks -- Citi, JPMorgan, BofA, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and U.S. Bancorp -- have each received more than $5 billion from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Plan, known as TARP.Mr. Pandit said the proposals would affect 'countless' people who would find it difficult to repay their bonuses. He noted that not all workers in the financial services field are to blame for the current economic morass, adding that the banking giant removed the people who are responsible for the company's distress and acted quickly to streamline its business.'The work we have all done to try to stabilize the financial system and to get this economy moving again would be significantly set back if we lose our talented people because Congress imposes a special tax on financial services employees,' Mr. Pandit wrote in a memo distributed to Citi's 300,000 employees.Mr. Dimon, whose bank is considered to be in the best shape out of the nation's biggest financial institutions, said retention remains important to J.P. Morgan and that the bank is actively engaging legislators in Washington. He encouraged them to call their local politicians to tell them how they feel, a spokesman for the company confirmed.At BofA, Mr. Lewis said his 'first concern is about basic fairness to our associates.' He said the Charlotte-based bank is 'part of the solution for the financial crisis' through its acquisitions of distressed Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch.Mr. Lewis called the proposed bonus tax 'terribly unfair.' Many employees, he said, 'had nothing to do with creating today's problems,' and 'I am concerned about our ability to retain some of out most valuable' employees. The bank is in the process of eliminating 30,000 to 35,000 positions across the company. 'None of you,' he told employees, 'deserve to have even more compensation taken away.''I also believe that these proposals have the potential to damage the ability of the government to engineer a financial recovery,' he wrote. 'Many of the government's plans depend on the private sector being willing to contract with the government. If investors or companies in the private sector believe that the rules can change quickly and indiscriminately, they will be unwilling to participate.'Not everyone in Washington was in support of taxing bonuses. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, an outspoken critic of the nation's giant banks, on Friday raised concerns about moves to hamper bonus pay. In a speech in Phoenix, she said: 'Some talent is better than others, and some people do need to be better compensated.'Jay Miller
The chief executives of the nation's three largest banks on Friday pushed back against legislation that would heavily tax Wall Street bonuses.Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit and Bank of America Corp.'s Kenneth Lewis both issued memos to employees criticizing a tax that would make it hard to retain workers. And J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon reassured his 200 top executives in a conference call that the bank is actively engaging Washington on the matter.The executives are responding to Washington's latest salvo against Wall Street bonuses. Outrage about massive payouts came to a head this week when it was learned that embattled insurer American International Group Inc., which has received federal government funding to keep it operating, would pay $165 million in bonuses to employees of a unit that caused massive losses at the company.The House passed legislation on Thursday to impose a 90% surtax on bonuses granted to employees with household income of more than $250,000 at companies that received at least $5 billion from the government's financial rescue program.The Senate is considering a similar plan that could be up for a vote as soon as next week. Eight banks -- Citi, JPMorgan, BofA, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and U.S. Bancorp -- have each received more than $5 billion from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Plan, known as TARP.Mr. Pandit said the proposals would affect 'countless' people who would find it difficult to repay their bonuses. He noted that not all workers in the financial services field are to blame for the current economic morass, adding that the banking giant removed the people who are responsible for the company's distress and acted quickly to streamline its business.'The work we have all done to try to stabilize the financial system and to get this economy moving again would be significantly set back if we lose our talented people because Congress imposes a special tax on financial services employees,' Mr. Pandit wrote in a memo distributed to Citi's 300,000 employees.Mr. Dimon, whose bank is considered to be in the best shape out of the nation's biggest financial institutions, said retention remains important to J.P. Morgan and that the bank is actively engaging legislators in Washington. He encouraged them to call their local politicians to tell them how they feel, a spokesman for the company confirmed.At BofA, Mr. Lewis said his 'first concern is about basic fairness to our associates.' He said the Charlotte-based bank is 'part of the solution for the financial crisis' through its acquisitions of distressed Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch.Mr. Lewis called the proposed bonus tax 'terribly unfair.' Many employees, he said, 'had nothing to do with creating today's problems,' and 'I am concerned about our ability to retain some of out most valuable' employees. The bank is in the process of eliminating 30,000 to 35,000 positions across the company. 'None of you,' he told employees, 'deserve to have even more compensation taken away.''I also believe that these proposals have the potential to damage the ability of the government to engineer a financial recovery,' he wrote. 'Many of the government's plans depend on the private sector being willing to contract with the government. If investors or companies in the private sector believe that the rules can change quickly and indiscriminately, they will be unwilling to participate.'Not everyone in Washington was in support of taxing bonuses. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, an outspoken critic of the nation's giant banks, on Friday raised concerns about moves to hamper bonus pay. In a speech in Phoenix, she said: 'Some talent is better than others, and some people do need to be better compensated.'Jay Miller