Hedging Lets Bankers Skirt Efforts to Overhaul Pay

By artappraiser on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 7:08pm |

By Eric Dash, New York Times, February 6, 2011

Intent on fixing a banking system that contributed heavily to the recent financial crisis, lawmakers and regulators pushed Wall Street to overhaul its pay practices. Big banks responded by shifting more compensation into stock, a move intended to align employees’ interests more closely with those of investors and discourage excessive risk-taking.

But it turns out that executives have a way to get around those best-laid plans. Using complex investment transactions, they can limit the downside on their holdings, or even profit, as other shareholders are suffering.,,,,

Artappraiser's note:

This was a large-point page A1 headline story in the Sunday Times' print edition, opposite "West Backs Gradual Egyptian Transition;" image here.

URL:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/stock-hedging-lets-bankers-skirt-efforts-to-overhaul-pay/?ref=todayspaper