Aussie Bankster Gives Back 99% of His Pay ... Why Don't Wall Streeters Do Likewise?

Posted by Alison Jobling, AlterNet at 2:18 PM on May 5, 2009.

The CEO of Australia's Macquarie Bank, nicknamed "the millionaire factory" for the high salaries paid to senior executives in previous, happier, financial years, has just taken a 99 percent pay cut. And Nicholas Moore has taken it like a man, describing it as 'good business sense'. Onya, Nick, nice one mate.

In fact, all the senior executives have seen their pay plunge, due to the global financial catastrophe: Macquarie has had a drop of 52% in net profit, which is their first profit fall in 17 years. Note that they've still made a profit - $871 million, which would certainly make my pockets jingle. But ever since their establishment in the early 80s, their profits have grown, and so have their executive salaries.

The executive salaries are tied to profits, you see - bugger-all profit means bugger-all salaries, and so the Macquarie execs have been tightening their belts and presumably reading the executive equivalent of "101 ways with mince". Not that they'll be out on the street - after all, the interest from previous years would still cushion the pain. But it's good to know that there's some relation between the bank's performance and the dosh swept up by senior execs. Unlike some financial institutions we could mention, Macquarie seems to actually believe that pay should be related to performance for those at the top of the banking food chain.

Now all we need is for the rest of the greedy CEO pigs guzzling at the public trough to see the light and do the same. Oh, and magic sparkle ponies for everyone.

Tagged as: banks, bailout, financial crisis

Alison Jobling, a regular AlterNet reader who comments under the handle, "HeroesAll," writes the blog Unstuffed.