Official: Obama to seek legislation giving shareholders a voice on executives’ pay

September 30th, 2009 Ohio AG takes lead role in Bank of America lawsuitCOLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has taken the lead role in an aggressive securities lawsuit alleging that Bank of America Corp. concealed billions of dollars in losses and bonuses paid during the bank's merger with Merrill Lynch.

August 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Bank of America agreed to pay US regulators a $33-million fine for misleading its investors about billions of dollars in bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives when it acquired the investment bank. While seeking stockholder approval of the deal to acquire Merrill Lynch, the Bank of America said that Merrill would not pay year-end bonuses to its executives, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

July 28th, 2009 Lawmakers support restrictions on executive payWASHINGTON — A House panel voted Tuesday to prohibit large financial firms from offering corporate pay packages that encourage executives to take big risks, going further than what President Barack Obama wanted to curb excessive salaries and bonuses on Wall Street. Lawmakers, including Republicans who opposed the proposal because they said it went too far, said they were under tremendous pressure from constituents.

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 Federal judge OKs UnitedHealth options settlementINDIANAPOLIS — A federal judge has approved a settlement once valued at about $900 million for a lawsuit pitting UnitedHealth Group shareholders against company executives over a stock options scandal. Shareholders of the Minnetonka, Minn.-based insurer sued former Chief Executive William McGuire and several other executives in 2006 to recover mostly options and cash for the company.

June 23rd, 2009 Obama admits occasional cigaretteWASHINGTON — One day after signing legislation giving the government unprecedented power to regulate tobacco, President Barack Obama is admitting that he's sometimes "fallen off the wagon" in his own effort to stop smoking. Obama told reporters Tuesday that he's "95 percent cured." But he added that "there are times where I mess up." He said he's not a "daily" or "constant" smoker, and that he doesn't smoke in front of his kids.

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 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 10th, 2009 Administration jawbones corporate boards on payWASHINGTON — The Obama administration, which partly blamed out-of-whack executive pay for the nation's financial crisis, says it won't try to directly limit such pay, choosing instead on Wednesday to try to tame compensation through shareholder pressure. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the administration will ask Congress to give shareholders a nonbinding voice on executive pay and to require corporate compensation committees to be independent from company management.

June 10th, 2009 Administration seeks ways to tame corporate payWASHINGTON — Talking tough but stepping gently, the Obama administration rejected direct intervention in corporate pay decisions Wednesday even as officials argued that excessive compensation in the private sector contributed to the nation's financial crisis. Instead, the administration plans to seek legislation that would try to tame compensation at publicly traded companies through shareholder pressure and less management influence on pay decisions.

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.

May 13th, 2009 Comcast 'say on pay' shareholder proposal failsPHILADELPHIA — A proposal to give shareholders an advisory vote on executives' pay packages at Comcast Corp. failed to gain traction Wednesday, with the chief executive saying such a practice raises "troubling aspects" about the direction of American capitalism.

May 8th, 2009 Verizon shareholders to vote on executive payNEW YORK — A movement to give shareholders influence over compensation awarded to company executives gets an early test Thursday as Verizon Communications Inc. becomes the latest to hold a "say on pay" vote.

May 8th, 2009 Verizon shareholders endorse execs' pay packagesLOUISVILLE, Ky. — Verizon's top executives easily passed their "say on pay" test Thursday when their pay packages won overwhelming shareholder approval that brushed aside complaints the compensation was excessive.

February 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With the government expected to give ailing US financial institutions billions more in aid, President Barack Obama has moved to rein in firms with new restrictions including $500,000 a year cap on the pay of top executives. 'We're going to be demanding some restraint in exchange for federal aid - so that when firms seek new federal dollars, we won't find them up to the same old tricks,' Obama said while announcing the new limits at the White House Wednesday.