As US banks are getting taxpayers' money to bail them out, they have paid up to USD 1.6 bln in salaries and bonuses to their executives. An Associated Press analysis revealed on Sunday that US banks, which have called on the US treasury to rescue them amid a credit crunch, have never hesitated to pay their executives large salaries, bonuses and other benefits using government loans.
Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services committee and a long-standing critic of executive bonuses and benefits, said the bonuses are a bribe 'to get them (executives) to do the jobs for which they are well paid in the first place'.
"Most of us sign on to do jobs and we do them the best we can,'' said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat. "We're told that some of the most highly paid people in executive positions are different. They need extra money to be motivated."
The benefits have include cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management. The total amount paid to nearly 600 executives would cover bailout costs for many of the 116 banks that have so far accepted tax dollars to boost their bottom lines.