What a lot of nerve. Most of us with jobs feel lucky we have a job. These are the people who helped cause the economic crisis, and they want a bonus
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30469527/
updated 3:59 p.m. ET, Wed., April 29, 2009
NEW YORK - Citigroup Inc. is worried about losing employees, and trying to figure out how to retain them.
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit has talked with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about the possibility of paying special bonuses to keep demoralized workers from getting poached by competitors, a person familiar with the matter said. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was not authorized to disclose details about the private talks.
In particular, the New York-based bank is hoping to free its highly profitable energy-trading unit, Phibro, from federal compensation limits, the Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday. The Treasury has not made a decision on the request, the paper said, and the amount of bonuses requested wasn’t disclosed.
A Treasury Department spokesman would not comment on the matter, and Citigroup said in a statement that it has not presented the Treasury Department “with a specific plan for retaining our people. We have also not discussed any specific plan or program designed to give people additional cash bonus payouts.”
Citigroup has received $45 billion in federal bailout funds over the past several months, and the government has agreed to insure a pool of more than $300 billion in Citigroup assets. Soon, the government will own a 36 percent stake in the bank. Companies that have accepted federal bailout funds are under tighter limits on how much they pay top executives.
The restrictions are intended to prevent the type of taxpayer outrage that ensued after the bailed-out American International Group paid $165 million in retention bonuses to employees despite having received more than $180 billion in federal funds.
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