AIG Chairman Says Feinberg’s Curbs Make ‘Little Business Sense’ Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc. Chairman Harvey Golub told shareholders that decisions by U.S. paymaster Kenneth Feinberg to limit compensation at the government-owned insurer made “little business sense” and hurt the firm’s ability to repay its bailout. Golub, who became AIG chairman in August, made the comments in a letter to shareholders posted yesterday on AIG’s Web site. The New York-based insurer’s board is focused on working with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Treasury Department and “dealing with” Feinberg’s pay guidelines, Golub wrote. “While we can pay the vast majority of people competitively, on occasion, these restrictions and his decisions have yielded outcomes that make little business sense,” Golub, 70, said of Feinberg. “In some cases we are prevented from providing market-competitive compensation to retain some of our most experienced and best executives. This hurts the business and makes it harder to repay the taxpayers.” Feinberg, the Obama administration’s special master on executive pay, has instituted a $500,000 base salary cap for most AIG employees. He has made exceptions for those deemed necessary for the insurer’s success, including Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche, who secured a $7 million salary and $3.5 million in long-term incentive awards. “AIG owes the taxpayer a huge amount of money and we want to make sure that my compensation practices take into account the need for AIG to thrive,” Feinberg said in a Dec. 11 interview with Bloomberg Television. AIG received a $182.3 billion bailout. AIG plans to add several directors to its board because the workload required “is as high as I’ve ever seen in any company and is likely to continue for some time,” wrote Golub, the former chairman and CEO of American Express Co. Dammerman Retires Dennis Dammerman, the former Discover Financial Services chairman elected to AIG’s board in November 2008, will retire for “personal health reasons,” Golub wrote. Dammerman led the board search committee that selected Benmosche last year. Mark Herr, a spokesman for AIG, declined to comment. www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-27/...e-little-business-sense-.html ----------- Pecuniae imperare oportet, non servire. Senecae. |