AIG, Ally, GM CEO Compensation will not increase

WASHINGTON: Compensation packages for the chief executives of bailed-out firms American International Group, Ally Financial and General Motors will not increase in 2011, the Treasury Department said late on Friday.

The Obama administration's pay czar has reviewed the packages for the top 25 executives at the four remaining companies that have received exceptional government assistance and has found that overall, their cash compensation has decreased 18.2 percent, treasury said.

To ensure that taxpayers were not rewarding executives at companies that received the most government help, the law required that their pay packages be subject to restrictions and approved by Patricia Geoghegan, who is special master for executive compensation for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The cash component of the pay packages for the CEOs of Ally, GM and AIG is frozen at 2010 levels, Treasury said in a statement. Chrysler's top 25 executives were also reviewed. But since the auto maker is under management control of Italy's Fiat SpA, its CEO is compensated by Fiat.

Geoghegan took issue with a few of the proposals. In a letter to Ally Financial, she said that in certain cases the proposed stock salary was not justified and must be reduced. The top paid executive at Ally, CEO Michael Carpenter, will make $9.5 million in 2011, according to the Treasury letter that did not identify Carpenter by name.

AIG's top earner, CEO Bob Benmosche, will make $10.5 million, according to Treasury's letter to the insurer. Geoghegan said that an AIG employee's cash salary should not exceed $500,000 other than in "exceptional cases for good cause."

The highest paid executive at GM, CEO Dan Akerson, will get $9 million this year, according to Treasury's letter to the automaker.

Originally the pay czar oversaw seven companies, but institutions such as Bank of America and Citigroup were released from its jurisdiction after repaying taxpayer money.