A U.S. inspector general on Monday released the findings of a report that faulted the Treasury Department for approving “excessive” salaries and raises at firms bailed out by the federal government in the midst of the financial crisis, the Associated Press reported.
According to the government’s report, Treasury signed off on raises for executives that exceeded pay limits put in place under the 2008 bailouts and at times neglected to connect compensation with job-based performance.
From the AP:
The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said Treasury approved all 18 requests it received last year to raise pay for executives at American International Group Inc., General Motors Corp. and Ally Financial Inc. Of those requests, 14 were for $100,000 or more; the largest raise was $1 million.
Treasury also allowed pay packages totaling $5 million or more for nearly a quarter of the executives at those firms, the report says.
Also noted: A $200,000 raise was approved for an executive of Ally’s mortgage-lending subsidiary Residential Capital LLC just weeks before ResCap filed for bankruptcy protection. Ally was GM’s financial arm until it was taken over by the government in the bailout.
