Fed to Propose Bank-Pay Guidelines, Review 28 Firms (Update2)
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Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve proposed new guidelines on pay practices at banks and said it will launch a review of the 28 largest firms to ensure compensation packages donÂ’t create incentives for the kinds of risky investments blamed for the financial crisis.
“Compensation practices at some banking organizations have led to misaligned incentives and excessive risk-taking, contributing to bank losses and financial instability,” Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said today in a statement. “The Federal Reserve is working to ensure that compensation packages appropriately tie rewards to longer-term performance.”
The central bankÂ’s action parallels efforts by U.S. lawmakers, the administration of President Barack Obama and world leaders to overhaul incentives to reduce threats to the financial system. Investments in mortgage-backed securities and other complex instruments have led to more than $1.6 trillion in credit losses and writedowns at firms from Zurich-based UBS AG to New York-based Citigroup Inc., triggering the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
“Today’s proposal is but one part of a broad program by the Federal Reserve to strengthen supervision of banks and bank holding companies in the wake of the financial crisis,” Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo, an Obama appointee who is leading an overhaul of Fed supervision, said in a statement.
The central bank said it may take enforcement action against banks where compensation or risk-management practices “pose a risk to the safety and soundness of the organization and the organization is not taking prompt and effective measures to correct the deficiencies.”