an idea long overdue...

[acroyear]

Editorial - Bankers and Their Salaries - Editorial - NYTimes.com:

Banks’ boards of directors, encouraged by their shareholders, must look hard at reforming the pay of top bankers. The core problem is this: bankers get stellar rewards in the good times and don’t have to give money back when their strategy sinks the bank a few years down the road. They might miss a bonus, or even get fired — and float down to earth on the “golden parachute” negotiated in the flush years.

One way to change this would be for banks to hold a big chunk of bankers’ pay in escrow, to be doled out over several years. A bigger share of a bankers’ pay could be made in restricted stock that can only be sold over a fairly long period of time. Golden parachutes could depend on good performance through the executive’s tenure.

Now, there’s a concept.

The same column notes that the feds in taking over Freddie and Fannie dismissed the multi-million dollar severance package the execs of those companies were to get from their contracts (regardless of performance).