Why Capping Street Bonuses Won t Work

如果你在华尔街工作，那么最好祈祷你的银行不需要美国财政部(Treasury)所谓的“特殊救助”。从现在起，所有接受“特殊救助”的银行必须遵守美国政府有关高管薪酬的新规定。这不仅仅意味着你的奖金可能泡汤，你所在的银行可能也要接受“死亡之吻”的眷顾。总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)和财政部长蒂莫西•盖特纳(Timothy Geithner)并不想置银行于死地，事实上，他们正竭尽全力拯救银行业。不过很不幸，问题资产救助计划(TARP)的经费掌握在国会手中，而国会希望血洗华尔街。因此，奥巴马和盖特纳不得不采取严格的新政策限制高管薪酬。当然，政策只是象征性的，也是出于好意。不过就像政府大多数拙劣的补救措施一样，它也将以灾难性的结果收场。为什么？因为财政部的新规定违反了人类追求私利的本性。朋友，这条真理对华尔街也一直适用！根据财政部的高管薪酬新规定，华尔街的“好银行”和“坏银行”幸存下来的股东所有银行和转为纳税人所有的银行将加速分化。其中，高盛(Goldman Sachs)摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase & Co.)富国银行(Wells Fargo & Co.)等度过危机的赢家将向其最优秀的银行家和交易员支付丰厚报酬。这些银行将保留它们的传统，恢复活力，而且要不了多久就能还上政府贷款。而失败者注定要承受苦难。美国银行(Bank of America Corp.)花旗(Citi)和美国国际集团(AIG)的多数高管只能吊在那里，因为他们别无选择。按照新规定，任何接受政府“特殊救助”的公司其高管一年得到的现金和限制性股票的价值不得超过50万美元。但获得限制性股票的条件要由财政部决定。希望财政部公告中关于这部分条件的规定不至于太让人失望！其实问题倒不在此。现在在美国银行供职的前美林(Merrill Lynch)人士要问自己的是：究竟谁能让我更富有？是摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)的股东还是美国政府？华尔街的客户也会问相同的问题。今天，看到美国银行股价下跌11%，而高盛摩根士丹利分别上涨6%和5%应该不会让人感到讶异。华尔街明白，没人愿意为政府干活。实际上，华尔街上也有一些人为接受“特殊救助”的银行提供的工作安全感和对员工较低的要求表示欢迎。不过，你还记得格罗克•马科斯(Groucho Marx)那个不想属于任何一个想接纳他作会员的俱乐部的老笑话吗？如果是AIG花旗和美国银行这些“俱乐部”该多惨。猜猜谁是这些银行的所有者？就是你！因此，在保护美国纳税人的名义下，几乎可以肯定这样的高管薪酬新规定将降低这些属于纳税人的银行的价值。多么扭曲的一项公共政策！至于新规定的执行，所谓“魔鬼在细节里”仍然适用。你已经可以听到花旗首席执行长潘伟迪(Vikram Pandit)和美国银行首席执行长肯•刘易斯(Ken Lewis)宽慰下属，财政部的新规定有很大的灵活性，所有那些条款都不会妨碍他们的薪资政策。不过没人会真的相信他们。华尔街清楚，政府插手只会让事情更糟，而新的高管薪酬规定，那只会让那些危机中的失败者更倒霉而已。Evan Newmark相关阅读奥巴马限薪措施带来的问题 2009-02-05原声视频：企业高管薪金限额的影响 2009-02-05奥巴马限制受助公司高管年薪   上限50万 2009-02-05华尔街高额奖金背后的文化 2009-02-04华尔街薪酬体系向现实屈服 2009-02-02美国受助金融机构薪酬限制趋紧 2009-02-02 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年02月05日15:37', 'WFC'));富国银行英文名称：Wells Fargo & Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：WFCdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年02月05日15:37', 'JPM'));摩根大通公司英文名称：JPMorgan Chase & Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：JPMdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年02月05日15:37', 'GS'));高盛集团英文名称：Goldman Sachs Group Inc.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：GSdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年02月05日15:37', 'AIG'));美国国际集团英文名称：American International Group Inc.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：AIGdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年02月05日15:37', 'BAC'));美国银行英文名称：Bank of America Corp.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：BAC


If you're on Wall Street, you better pray that your bank doesn't require in the words of the U.S. Treasury 'exceptional assistance.'As of today, those banks will be subject to Washington's new executive pay guidelines.And those guidelines are not just the kiss of death for your bonus. It's the kiss of death for your bank.Now, President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner don't actually want to kill the banks. In fact, they are desperate to save them.But unfortunately, it is Congress that controls the TARP money. And Congress wants blood.So, Obama and Geithner are obliging with a strong new policy on executive pay. Of course, the policy is symbolic and well-intentioned. But like most government tinkering, it's bound to end in disaster.And that's because the Treasury pay guidelines run counter to the fundamental human truth that people act in their self-interest. And boy - is that ever true for Wall Street.With the new pay guidelines, the split on Wall Street between the good banks and the bad banks, the shareholder-owned winners and the taxpayer-owned losers, will accelerate further.The winners like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo will pay top dollar to the very best bankers and traders. They'll retain their culture, find their mojo and pay back their government loans, sooner rather than later.The losers are fated to suffer. Most executives will only hang around at Bank of America, Citi and AIG because they have no choice.The guidelines cap pay at $500,000 a year in cash plus restricted stock. But the vesting conditions on the restricted stock is to be determined by Treasury bureaucrats. Good luck parsing the vesting language in Section IIA of the Treasury's announcement.Not that it matters. All a talented ex-Merrill - now BofA banker - has to ask himself is: Who will make me richer? Morgan Stanley shareholders or the U.S. government? Wall Street clients will be asking themselves the same question.It should be no surprise that today, Bank of America's stock fell by 11% while the shares of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley rose by 6% and 5% respectively.Wall Street gets it - nobody wants to work for the government.Actually, there are some on Wall Street who will welcome the job security and lesser demands that an 'exceptional assistance' bank might require from its people.But remember the old Groucho Marx joke about not wanting to belong to any club that would have him? That would sadly be the AIG, Citi and BofA club.And guess who owns those banks? You do. So, in the name of protecting the U.S. taxpayer, the new pay guidelines will almost certainly diminish the value of the taxpayer-owned banksHow's that for a neat twist on public policy?Now, when it comes to implementing the new pay guidelines, the devil will be in the details. You can already hear Citi CEO Vikram Pandit and BofA CEO Ken Lewis jawboning their lieutenants on how there is a lot of flexibility in the Treasury guidelines. And how all the stuff on clawbacks, caps and vesting won't impede their compensation policy.But nobody will actually believe them. Wall Street understands that government involvement is a slippery slope - and that with the new Treasury policies - the losers will be slip sliding away.Evan Newmark