2 Headlines on Bonuses

UBS Slashes Its Bonus Pool for 2008 by More Than 80%
By Elena Logutenkova Jan. 28 (Bloomberg)


Obama slams Wall Street over bonuses
By Andrew Ward in Washington and Francesco Guerrera in New York
FT January 29 2009 20:22 Last updated: January 29 2009 23:22

Since I wrote about bonuses earlier this week, let me pick it up again here. A V.P. at Time Warner could very well have a base salary that is 2x that of a V.P. at Morgan Stanley. Wall Street firms keep base salaries low, at least in part, so that in years like this they can "pay down" employees and keep them.

If a top exec at an investment bank was responsible for billions in losses, zero bonus is entirely appropriate. Obama slamming any bonuses as inappropriate last year, especially for the rank and file, is off the mark.