Obama administration pledges to strike proper balance with executive compensation

October 13th, 2009 Prudential board approves Say on Pay for holdersNEWARK, N.J. — Prudential Financial Inc.

October 6th, 2009 Bailed-out banks act before pay czar announcementWASHINGTON — Several firms that received large taxpayer bailouts have adjusted executive compensation to trim cash payouts before the Obama administration's pay czar issues new rules. Some fear those rules will go too far, preventing them from attracting the talent they need to remain competitive.

August 19th, 2009 Audit: Little guidance for banks facing pay rulesWASHINGTON — Bailed-out banks were scrambling to comply with executive compensation rules months before the regulations were finalized, according to an inspector general report released Wednesday. Treasury did not issue its most recent set of rules limiting executive compensation until June 15, but companies that took money from the $700 billion financial bailout earlier this year already had hired consultants and started assessing the risks of the rules months earlier.

August 11th, 2009 GM submits executive compensation planWASHINGTON — General Motors Co. said Tuesday it had submitted its executive compensation proposal to the Obama administration, complying with a requirement for companies bailed out by the federal government.

July 16th, 2009 Administration proposes company pay changesWASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Thursday sent Congress legislation seeking to rein in compensation at public companies by giving shareholders a say on executives' pay packages and diminishing management's influence on pay decisions. The legislative proposal is designed to ensure that boards of directors' compensation committees are truly independent from company management.

July 1st, 2009 SEC considers rules on pay disclosure, TARP firmsWASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is debating proposed rules that would require firms that have received government bailouts to let shareholders vote on executive pay. Congress mandated the rule for participants in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the $700 billion financial bailout.

June 11th, 2009 White House, Congress seek to rein in exec payWASHINGTON — As the Obama administration takes a half-step toward taming executive pay, Congress might consider a fuller stride. The administration, which has maintained that excessive compensation in the private sector contributed to the nation's financial crisis, has rejected direct intervention in corporate pay decisions.

June 11th, 2009 Administration: Rein in pay across private sectorWASHINGTON — The Obama administration says excessive executive compensation must be better managed to prevent the sort of risk-taking that jeopardizes the economy. Gene Sperling, who advises Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, said Thursday the administration does not want to impose caps on executive pay.

June 11th, 2009 Administration, Congress seek to rein in exec payWASHINGTON — The Obama administration struck a delicate balance on executive pay Thursday, blaming flawed compensation packages for encouraging disastrous risk-taking but insisting it doesn't want to dictate how corporations reward their top people. Gene Sperling, a top counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, conceded to a congressional committee that imposing compensation caps on companies could lead to a flight of talent.

June 10th, 2009 Administration to issue new Wall Street pay curbsWASHINGTON — The Obama administration will give a new Treasury official power to reject executive pay packages at firms that receive government assistance and wants legislation that would seek to tame compensation across the corporate world, an administration official said Wednesday. President Barack Obama will ask Congress to give shareholders a nonbinding voice on executive pay in an effort to link compensation to long-term performance rather than short-term gains, the official said.

June 10th, 2009 Official: Obama wants shareholder say on exec payWASHINGTON — An administration official says President Barack Obama will ask Congress to give shareholders a nonbinding voice in how much corporate executives are paid. It's an effort to link compensation to long-term performance rather than short-term gains.

June 7th, 2009 Obama pledges support on Air France probeCAEN, France — President Barack Obama says the United States has authorized all of the government's resources to investigate an Air France plane that disappeared off the coast of South America. Obama told French President Nicholas Sarkozy on Saturday that Americans offer their thoughts and their prayers to the French, particularly those who lost family members in the suspected crash.

May 13th, 2009 Correction: April 3 Aon exec compensation storyNEW YORK — In an April 3 story about compensation received by Aon Corp.'s president and chief executive, Gregory C. Case, The Associated Press reported erroneously the amount of his performance-based cash award and the value of his overall pay package for 2008.

May 8th, 2009 Obama pledges effort to halt civilian war deathsWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is pledging "every effort" to halt civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan. The president spoke after meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari.

May 5th, 2009 Correction: IntercontinentalExchange exec payNEW YORK — In an April 28 corrective of an April 1 story about executive compensation at IntercontinentalExchange Inc., The Associated Press reported erroneously the percentage change of the chief executive's total compensation for 2008 and the value of the stock options he was granted in 2007. The compensation received by IntercontinentalExchange's CEO, Jeffrey Sprecher, fell almost 4 percent, not rose 89 percent.