zalo

Compensation Watch: Credit Suisse's PAF Program

Even though i agree that investment bank employees earn quite a good amount of money, probably higher than the average guy at the street, there are other industries that can do quite the same (or more) amountof money. Lawyers for example, they do millions and they probably receive the same aversion from the street guy. Doctors also do a huge amount of money. You would probably say that they do things positive for humanity, but what about plastic surgeons ? hardly you can say that they add value to the world.
Still, i think that a lot of people in the financial industry are suffering due to decisions that weren´t in their power to take or to solve.

Compensation Watch: Credit Suisse's PAF Program

I think that it is completly incorrect to treat employees of the investment banks, like Merril, or insurance companies like AIG in the way it is beeing done. For example, John Thain, he saved Merrill from collapsing and he came to Merrill from a stable position at the NYSE when everything was pretty much imploding. Why wouldn´t he be granted a bonus for his great job? Is anything of this debacle his fault? Or is this the fault of the prior very senior management and shareholders who failed to oversight adequatly their business? Or is this the fault of the government who failed to regulate adequatly?
Every time i hear that bank employees must get their bonuses cut, their end of year parties closed, their job trips foregone, and being critized, etc, i feel that there is a lot of unfairness in it, and that in reality it is not based on the financial debacle, but by the envy a lot of people always had on this bankers group.
AIG employees deserve what they would deserve in any other US company. They did the job that was required from them, but because a wrong decision taken at the head of the corporation, now they have to work practically for free and sacrifice themselves?. That is nonesense.
Do Credit Suisse employees had really anything to do with the management decision to get into the illiquid instruments they are now going to receive?
All this is witchhunting at the professional level that was not responsible for the debacle. People should look for accountability at the government who failed to regulate adequatly and at the board and shareholders of the banks that decided to get into risky assets.
If a country looses a war, it is no the fault of their soldiers, or the middle rank officers. It is the fault of their generals and leaders.