Bonuses at banking companies and bonuses at STRS...do you see a parallel here?

From John Curry, October 29, 2008

Recently, the New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, sent a letter to nine New York banks indicating that, as recipients of taxpayer funds, these institutions "had a responsibility" to the taxpayers of New York state and suggested that bonuses for executives should be furnished for examination. Cuomo goes on to say, "Taxpayers are, in many ways, now like shareholders of your company, and your firm has a responsibility to them.”

Maybe I am off base here but.....doesn't STRS receive payments from public school districts who subsequently receive these monies from taxpayers? Doesn't STRS have a responsibility to them ( the taxpayers, as well as the contributing educators and the Ohio Revised Code - section 3307.15) when STRS pays $6,027,249 in bonuses to their in-house investors at a time when STRS has dropped 25 Billion dollars in worth? The majority of our STRS Board apparently doesn't view it this way.

I think I see similarities, do you? Would it be too much to ask STRS for a list of these bonus recipients and the respective amounts involved...if not merely for the sake of the direct contributors of STRS but also for the taxpayers contributing to all Ohio public schools? Would it be asking too much for the Board to reconsider bonus payments at a time when some of my fellow STRS retirees are looking at $900 monthly (in 2009) healthcare insurance premiums for themselves and their spouses?

John Curry
An STRS benefits recipient

Cuomo Investigates Bonuses at Banking Companies

October 29, 2008
New York Times

From Jonathan D. Glater, a DealBook colleague:

The New York attorney general has expanded his investigation of bonus payments to Wall Street executives whose banking companies are receiving $125 billion in support from the federal government.

In a letter sent on Wednesday to the nine financial institutions receiving government aid, the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, asked for “a detailed accounting regarding your expected payments to top management in the upcoming bonus season.”

The letter also raised the prospect of a lawsuit relying on a New York law that, Mr. Cuomo has said, permits the recovery of payments worth more than the services provided by executives.

Mr. Cuomo sent his letter to Citigroup, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, State Street and Wells Fargo.

In recent weeks, Mr. Cuomo’s office reached an agreement with the American International Group, the troubled insurance conglomerate, freezing millions of dollars in payments to former executives. The letter sent on Wednesday appears to represent an expansion of the inquiry into executive compensation at companies getting government money.

“As my office has told A.I.G.,” Mr. Cuomo wrote, “now that the American taxpayer has provided substantial funds to your firm, the preservation of those funds is a vital obligation of your company. Taxpayers are, in many ways, now like shareholders of your company, and your firm has a responsibility to them.”

On Tuesday, Representative Henry A. Waxman, who is leading a House investigation of the financial crisis, asked the nine banking companies to explain why they are paying billions of dollars in compensation and bonuses after they accepted the cash injections of $125 billion as part of the government’s $700 billion bailout program.