Citigroup (NYSE: C) may cap cash bonuses for 2009 at below $100,000 according to a new report from the Financial Times. The 2009 bonus pool is expected to be similar to 2008 levels, which was relatively low compared to previous years. Citigroup will likely pay a large part of its executive bonuses in the form of stock that cannot be sold for many years.
The New York based bank may pay up to 40% of its bonuses in the form of deferred cash and stock and provide the rest in non-deferred cash and IOUs, which will turn into common stock in April of this year. According to the report, Citigroup is still working out the details of its bonus plan.
Recently, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo asked Citigroup and seven of the nations’ largest banks in the nation that received a bailout under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to provide information relating to the amounts of their 2009 bonuses packages and their structure. Cuomo also asked banks what the effects of receiving TARP funds have had on their ability to give out bonuses.
Other banks that received Cuomo’s letter asking for information included Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street and Wells Fargo. Cuomo asked for the information by February 8th. According to Cuomo, a full disclosure and transparency in bonus information is essential as recent government actions have given rise to issues of accountability.
Citigroup received $45 billion as part of two bailouts from the Troubled Asset Relief program at the height of the financial crisis.
