Regulator Said to Want Pay Cuts For poor Performance
Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported Sunday that Finma, the Swiss financial market regulator, is looking to introduce a bonus system for all Swiss banks which will involve pay cuts for bankers judged to have put in poor performances.
The regulator is said to want to command a far greater say in the payment of bonuses, and is looking for them to be geared much more to longer-term performance goals. Reuters also reports that the regulator will also propose that UBS bonuses are frozen and paid years down the road.
Financial News reports that Ralph Schlosstein, a co-founder of BlackRock, is the new president and CEO over at Evercore Partners, in succession to Roger Altman, who remains chairman. Schlosstein will receive a $500,000 base salary, and a cash sign-on bonus of $6.1m. Nice.
The News & Observer reports that Wells Fargo executives signalled last week that they are to further downsize Wachovia's corporate & investment banking unit, which currently employs around 5,700 staff. Wells Fargo bosses said that they had identified a number of 'higher risk' businesses which they are looking to 'downsize to a certain extent'.
And Bloomberg reports that Bank of America lead director O. Temple Sloan, the man who has been perhaps CEO's Ken Lewis's biggest supporter on the board, is to step down after 13 years. Sloan, 70, has been on BofA's board for 13 years.
The news agency also reports that Jeremy Taylor, the head of Merrill Lynch's energy trading unit in the Americas, is the latest firm executive to have left.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that that brokers at Morgan Stanley and Citi's Smith Barney brokerage unit enjoyed their last day of independence Friday. From Monday, the units are being merged into a joint venture which will have 20,000 staff, $1.7 trillion in client assets and over 1,000 offices worldwide.
And The New York Times reports that analysts have become more bullish on Morgan Stanley once again. David Trone of Fox-Pitt Kelton and Robert Lee of Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods, expect greater things from the Wall Street firm in the months ahead. Trone has raised his 2009 earnings estimate, and Lee has raised his rating on Morgan Stanley's stock to 'outperform'.
Finally, The Sunday Times reports that staff over at UK market regulator The Financial Services Authority managed to bag $31.8m in bonuses in April - a 40% increase on the year before. How's that for rewarding failure ?
