Tracy Alloway
Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America, will not be given a cash bonus for 2011, rounding out a disappointing year for the bank and for the wider Wall Street world.
Mr Moynihan instead will receive about $5.9m worth of restricted stock, a person familiar with the Charlotte-based bank?s corporate dealings said. The shares will be linked to the bank?s future performance, and some of them will not be payable until March 2015 at the earliest.
?Total incentive pay for last year is made up of restricted shares,? said the person. Mr Moynihan ?did not receive a cash award or increase in his base salary?, the person added.
Wall Street banks have been cutting back on the bonuses they pay to executives and bankers after a dismal trading year and amid lacklustre capital markets. Political pressure to curb excessive bonuses also means they are collectively paying out more deferred compensation, which is linked to the overall performance of the bank.
Shares of Bank of America plunged 58 per cent last year, after it grappled with a series of embarrassments. It was forced to scrap a planned dividend payment to shareholders after an objection from the Federal Reserve in March, while concerns over the bank?s levels of regulatory capital hit its shares in August.
Mr Moynihan?s base salary is $950,000 a year, with $9.05m worth of restricted stock granted last year. The new shares are tied to certain targets, such as specific asset prices, that will have to be met before they are paid.
The BofA chief will become the latest banking executive to receive a smaller bonus.
Earlier this month, it emerged that Lloyd Blankfein, chief of Goldman Sachs, received $7m of restricted stock for 2011, 44 per cent less than the year before.