Merrill Lynch Paid More Than One-Third Of Its TARP Money In Bonuses

[Soul Crusher]

Merrill Lynch Paid More Than One-Third Of Its TARP Money In Bonuses
John Carney|Jul. 30, 2009, 2:10 PM|7
PrintTags: Wall Street, Bonus, Merrill Lynch

Merrill Lynch took $10 billion in TARP money after suffering losses of $27 billion last year. And then it promptly paid $3.6 billion of that in bonuses, according to Andrew Cuomo’s report on compensation at TARP taking firms.

This is old news, but it's also a stunning reminder of how a program that was ostensibly designed to steady the financial system was used to pump up the bank accounts of Wall Street executives.

This level of compensation, approved at the urging of then-CEO John Thain, was simply looting. It represents a diversion of public money into private pockets without any justification.

If Merrill Lynch would have fallen apart without paying its employees one-third of its TARP funds—far higher than any other bank in the report—it should have been permitted to die. It had already been acquired by Bank of America, and it’s fading from the scene would have posed no systemic risk.

To put it differently, that $3.6 billion did not remain with the firm as capital.  It was a number that Merrill Lynch did not need to meet regulatory capital requirement or to pay creditors or counter-parties.  It was just a wealth-transfer--straight from taxpayers to the Americans who needed it the least.

________________________ ________________________ ______________

The time is fast approaching. 

[Bindare_Dundat]

haha

I've come to the realization that people aren't going to do shit, no matter how obvious the looting is. Pretty sad. The truth is 90% of the population doesn't have a frigging clue as to whats going because  they don't get the truth about such matters on the "news". You actually have to be interested enough about where your money is going and what your reps are up to and most folks would rather dumb themselves down in some way.

[BayGBM]

It's time for an ass whipping!


...Three other firms -- Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase -- were singled out in the report for doling out bonuses that were much higher than the banks' 2008 earnings. Goldman made $2.3 billion and paid out $4.8 billion in bonuses. Morgan Stanley made $1.7 billion and paid $4.5 billion in bonuses. JPMorgan Chase, meanwhile, made $5.6 billion and paid $8.7 billion in bonuses, the report said. Those firms recently returned their TARP funds, a combined $45 billion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073001581.html?hpid=topnews
 

[JOCKTHEGLIDE]

haha

I've come to the realization that people aren't going to do shit, no matter how obvious the looting is. Pretty sad. The truth is 90% of the population doesn't have a frigging clue as to whats going because  they don't get the truth about such matters on the "news". You actually have to be interested enough about where your money is going and what your reps are up to and most folks would rather dumb themselves down in some way.

AI GREE FRIEND,,TOTALLY AGREE NO ONE IS GONNA DO ANYTHING THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO IS NOT PAY OUR BILLS STUCH AS CREDIT CARDS ONLY PAY WHAT WE NEED TO LIVE.