Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit's pay package slammed by Wall Street shareholders

Reno News.Net Thursday 19th April, 2012

The 15 million dollar pay package of Vikram Pandit, Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive has been slammed by the bank's shareholders, who are demanding that it be toned down.

Wall Street's Wells Fargo and Co. and Bank of America Corp. will reportedly ask shareholders in the coming weeks to vote on a "say on pay" proposal, which according to corporate governance experts will draw even more attention.

"We have the majority of shareholders indicating frustration with the overall level of compensation for executives still working at a major company," the Los Angeles Times quoted Brandon Rees, Acting Director of Investments at AFL-CIO, as saying.

Amidst outrage over executive pay, shareholders cast more than 40 negative "say on pay" votes, which mostly included small companies but even some big names like Hewlett-Packard Co.

About 55 percent of the shareholders cast votes in favor of lowering Pandit's salary and bonus package, along with the compensation for other top executives, on the Tuesday's vote at Citigroup, which was the first time it hit a sharp scale on Wall Street.

Following the vote results, Citigroup's retiring chairman, Richard Parsons, called the rejection "a serious matter" and said the bank's board and senior management would listen to the concerns of disaffected shareholders.

A statement released by the bank claimed that it would "carefully consider their input as we move forward."

One of the biggest and most activist of those shareholders in Wall Street, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, voted no on the pay measure because Citigroup "has not anchored rewards to performance."We believe the outcome of the vote will have a ripple effect through the industry by sheer power of an example," a CalPERS spokesman was quoted, as saying. (ANI)