Barney Frank

  • 18 May 2009 at 1:46 PM

Suck It, Frank, The Safecracker Was Here First

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“I don’t think our government should set caps on compensation,” Geithner said in an appearance at the National Press Club today in Washington. Instead, the government should lay out constraints on the incentives provided by compensation plans, so that executives aren’t paid to take excessive short- term risk, he said.

You tell ‘em, Safecracker!
Geithner Says Government Shouldn’t Cap Executive Compensation [Bloomberg]

  • 18 May 2009 at 10:51 AM

Crossed Wires?

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barneyx.jpgIt seems our fondest wish has come true. It seems that everyone has finally stopped listening to anything Barney Frank says. How else could it be that after his most recent ruckus about extending compensation limits to all public companies we have this:

Wall Street expects the U.S. to loosen compensation caps for banks that received taxpayer aid, three months after Merrill Lynch & Co.’s $3.6 billion in bonuses drove Congress to impose them, according to executives at four of the country’s biggest financial firms.

Someone failed to get the memo, we think. The plan was to strengthen the grip, not loosen it.
Banker Pay May Escape Obama Caps as Wall Street Eyes Guidelines [Bloomberg]

  • 13 Mar 2009 at 10:13 AM

The Tag Team

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cuomofrank.gifVarious lines drawn in the sand this morning leave Andrew Cuomo and Barney Frank on the same side of the lot, which should come as little surprise to anyone. The reach of the latest rounds of salary caps would seem to be a bit further than, we suspect, anyone suspected.

Mr. Cuomo is examining ways to further stagger both cash and stock compensation payments over several years, according to people familiar with the matter. This way, if a business built on short-term risk-taking blows up, firms will be able to claw back pay.

Riddle us this, Dealbreaker: If, as everyone on the government side of the lot seems anxious to assure us, most firms will have paid e.g., TARP funds back, how will salary caps and similar restrictions be enforced? That is… unless these new salary laws aren’t limited to firms taking government assistance.
Cuomo, Frank Seek to Link Executive Pay, Performance [The Wall Street Journal]

  • 10 Feb 2009 at 3:48 PM

I Believe The Term Is ‘Rectal Exam,’ Thank You Very Much

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Picture 656.pngVikram Pandit, John Mack, Lloyd Blankfein and Jamie Dimon are set to testify before Barney Frank and the House Financial Services gang tomorrow to determine who knew what and when. Ahead of the Congressional Shouting Match, Charlie Gasparino has dug deep in a way only he can. His fact finding mission has resulted in two bombshells. The first is that Count Vikula attempted to pull the old “I’d love to be there but I have a previous engagement” line, as though he has something to hide (or suffers from crippling stage fright).

Pandit was apparently so uneasy about his possible appearance that at first he told committee staffers he had a conflict: A long-planned trip to China. The committee, which has subpoena power, told Pandit’s people that it would probably be a smart move if he reconsidered his travel plans. “We said ‘Look, this would appear a little odd if all your peers are all going to be here and you’re not,” said Steven Adamske, a spokesman for the committee. “We said ‘It’s a good idea for you to be here, too.’”
Shortly thereafter, Pandit cancelled his trip and he’s now scheduled to testify. A Citigroup spokesman said: “When the committee inquired about Vikram’s availability for a possible hearing on February 11, we indicated he had a trip scheduled that week. The committee subsequently notified us that the hearing would be held that day and Vikram cancelled his trip in order to participate.”

The second is that these guys feel like scapegoats! and someone doesn’t know his rectals from his anals (and for the offense should be summarily dismissed):

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  • 09 Jan 2009 at 12:36 PM

Why Is Anyone Listening To Barney Frank Anymore?

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Barney Frank (Winner Of The DealBreaker Prize For Greatest Single Contribution To The Crash Of 2008) is yammering to reporters over at the Rayburn Building on new TARP requirements he is pushing through.
Retroactive executive compensation, and pre-legislative approval for use of funds is right up front. Requirements that aircraft be “divested,” that top 25 employees get no bonuses, and the like, unsurprising really, which is quite sad given how radically retroactive and draconian the measures are.
Will no one rid us of this meddlesome congressman?

  • 22 Dec 2008 at 10:10 AM

Today’s Class Warfare Update: The Propaganda Files

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Barney Frank, the House Financial Services Committee Chair and poster boy for the liquidity imbalance that is the “Dream of American Home Ownership,” is shocked, shocked he tells you to discover that bank executives are being paid in here.

“Most of us sign on to do jobs, and we do them best we can,” said Mr. Frank. “We’re told that some of the most highly paid people in executive positions are different. They need extra money to be motivated!”

The shocking revelation:

An analysis compiled by The Associated Press has determined that the 116 banks that have thus far received taxpayer bailouts paid their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses and other benefits in 2007…

…and…

The AP review of annual reports that the banks file with the Securities and Exchange Commission found that the average paid to each of the banks’ top executives was $2.6 million in salary, bonuses and benefits.

These apparently “amount to a bribe to get them to do the jobs for which they are well paid in the first place.”
We have a soft spot in our hearts for Barney Frank. Unfortunately, we can’t find it today.

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  • 22 Sep 2008 at 8:04 AM

Bailout Blues

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It probably isn’t surprising that Wall Street initially focused on the figure rather than the text of The Bailout Plan (it being so large and broad in scope that proper noun capitals seem appropriate here). $700 billion looks almost comfortably close to the $1 trillion that everyone seems to think represents the amount of toxic mortgage garbage on the balance sheets of your favorite brand-name investment banks (or their acquirers). In addition, there isn’t much more to look at. For such a massive plan, the succinct prose managed to fit into less than three full pages. Don’t worry though, democratic legislators started working to correct that oversight immediately. Already efforts to “insulate Main Street from Wall Street” and enact “an economic recovery package that creates jobs and returns growth to our economy,” (Pelosi) as well as something that “helps folks cope with rising prices, and sparks job creation” (Obama) are afoot.
Looking a little deeper at the original proposal, some questions do emerge, and certainly with all the weekend coverage, I expect we are not the first to ask them here.
Much More After The Jumptm

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