Business
Feddie Mac Chief Gets New Pay Package
The pay package given to Freddie Mac’s new chief financial officer should have sent a message from Washington to corporate America about how executive compensation standards must change. Instead, it did just the opposite.
The government-controlled mortgage finance company is giving CFO Ross Kari compensation worth as much as $5.5 million. That includes an almost $2 million cash signing bonus and a generous salary that could top $2.3 million.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Freddie Mac, approved the pay package. A spokeswoman pointed to a statement that justified the agency’s approval of the pay, which was done in part because the amount was comparable to what others in the financial services industry make.
That way of thinking is exactly what helped feed the surge in executive pay over the last decade. Everyone wants to make at least as much, or more, than their peers.
Freddie Mac is not just another company. It’s alive today, and nearly 80 per cent owned by the government, only because almost $51 billion in taxpayer funds were pumped into it over the last year. More bailout money also may be needed in the quarters ahead as losses from its troubled mortgages mount.
Outside pay experts are outraged. “We are in a period when this shouldn’t be acceptable,” said Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate at The Corporate Library, an independent corporate governance research firm. “Even if pay is competitive to the market, that doesn’t make it OK today.”
Lawmakers, regulators and corporate directors have spent the last year talking about how to “fix” executive pay following the outcry over what many Americans deem as excessive compensation.
Banks have come under fire for paying top executives big bonuses, which many see as encouraging excessive risk-taking and a focus on short-term results. The Obama administration also has proposed giving shareholders of all public companies a nonbinding vote on compensation.
Financial companies that receive bailout funds under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Programme, or TARP, are bound by rules on compensation. So long as they hold the government money, they can’t pay cash bonuses to top executives, retention awards to top managers or stock compensation subject to performance-based vesting.
Freddie Mac doesn’t have to follow those restrictions because its government aid has come from outside TARP.
Instead, Freddie Mac and its sibling, Fannie Mae, operate under “conservatorship” of the U.S. government after being crippled by losses last year. That was done because of the vital role both companies play in the mortgage market by purchasing loans from lenders and selling them to investors. Together, they own or guarantee about half of all U.S home mortgages.
The McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac has been without a permanent CFO for more than a year, when its two top executives stepped down as part of the government takeover in early September 2008. Acting CFO David Kellermann committed suicide in April.
Given the close government control over Freddie Mac, the pay package for its new CFO could have been held up as an example of reasonable compensation. Instead, his pay package doesn’t reflect much restraint.
When Kari joins Freddie Mac on October 12, he will receive a base salary of $675,000 and is entitled to an additional $1.66 million in cash for the year. The company said Kari will be paid in installments, but did not specify the timing of those payments in a September 24 securities filing. The company declined to comment beyond the filing.
Kari will also receive performance-based pay at the board’s discretion. The target amount for that cash compensation is $1.16 million, but what is actually given to Kari could be higher or lower.
His cash signing bonus totals $1.95 million and will be paid out in semi-monthly installments over the year. That money is supposed to cover what he forfeited in stock options and grants when he left Fifth Third Bancorp, where he served as CFO since last November.
Freddie Mac also said it would immediately allow him to sell his home to the company, waiving a 60-day offer period that is required for other executives. It did not, however, specify which of his homes would be covered; Kari has residences in Ohio, Oregon and Washington State, according to the filing.
No doubt that Kari is an able executive and has a hard task at hand. Before his 10-month stint at Fifth Third, he worked in the executive ranks at the insurance company Safeco and Wells Fargo.
Freddie Mac’s regulator, the FHFA, highlighted his qualifications in a statement it made after the pay package was disclosed. The agency said the approval of Kari’s pay was done after consulting with the Treasury Department. The FHFA declined further comment, and the Treasury Department didn’t return a request for comment.
In its statement, FHFA also said that Kari’s hire came at a “critical time for our nation’s economy and for the company.”
A better approach for Kari’s compensation would have been to require him to wait at least three years to receive a bulk of his compensation, instead of allowing him to get as much as 80 percent of it in cash over one year.
“It’s that kind of pay package that got us into trouble in the first place, because it encourages short-term thinking,” said Richard Ferlauto, director of pension and benefits policy for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a Washington-based labour group representing government workers.
At Fifth Third, Kari’s yearly salary was $580,000 and he received a $100,000 signing bonus. He also received a restricted stock grant of 20,000 shares and 40,000 stock appreciation rights, both of which would have vested after four years but were terminated once he left the Cincinnati-based bank.
Had he stayed at Fifth Third, he would not have been able to cash out of his equity compensation until the bank repaid the $3.4 billion in TARP funds it received. But Carol Bowie, head of the Governance Institute at RiskMetrics Group, a financial risk management firm, notes that his cash signing bonus at Freddie Mac effectively allows him to accelerate his receipt of equity he forfeited when he left Fifth Third.
Bowie acknowledges that attracting top talent is critically important to a troubled company like Freddie Mac, and supports the idea of executives being paid for their skills.
But she also thinks figuring out what’s fair in pay doesn’t mean sticking with the bad practices from the past.
The Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), the country’s satellite operator, has called for immediate promolgation of policy action that will enable the country to harness the potentials of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
NIGCOMSAT, also warned that Nigeria risks missing out on Africa’s projected $1.2trillion share of the global AI economy by 2030.
Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT, Nkechi Egerton-Idehen, disclosed this in a statement issued at the weekend following her participation in the Meeting of the National Council for Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries, economies, and societies worldwide, with projections that it will contribute up to $15.7trillion to the global economy by 2030. Africa stands to gain $1.2trillion of this if the right policies and innovations are in place”, Idehen said, citing a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
The NIGCOMSAT MD underscored the transformative potential of AI in agriculture, highlighting its applicability in Benue State, widely regarded as Nigeria’s “food basket.”
According to her, machine learning tools could revolutionize agricultural practices by improving pest detection and optimizing planting schedules using satellite imagery.
“AI offers us the chance to not only flourish economically but also to achieve food security. However, we must ask ourselves if we are prepared to manage this technology responsibly”, she added.
Idehen also noted that internet access remains a significant barrier to AI adoption in Nigeria.
“For AI tools to be effective, basic digital infrastructure is essential. Addressing this gap must be a priority.
“AI is happening. We have the opportunity to manage this technology revolution responsibly, both in Africa and globally, through innovation and governance”, she said.
In August 2024, the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy released a draft National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, aiming to position Nigeria as a global leader in AI.
Corlins Walter
The Chairman of Emohua Local Government Council, Chief David Omereji, has said the council has so far spent over N1 billion for the electrification of communities in the area.
Omereji said this while addressing staff of the council at the council headquarters recently.
He said the move was part of his administration’s resolve to ensure peace and development of the LGA.
According to him, the Council spent about N29 million on monthly basis for the maintenance of the Emohua Local Vigilante group known as OSPAC, with each member being paid a stipend of N100, 000 monthly.
He diaclosed that 11 out of the 14 wards are currently enjoying electricity, while efforts are on to light-up the remaining ones.
“I also want to use this opportunity to inform the political class for purposes of records and for the understanding of the people that the Council under my watch have done more than enough”, he said .
The Emolga boss explained that all that have been achieved were through the personal effort of the Council, without support from anybody as rumoured in some quarters.
Omereji further reaveled that a number of other projects, including roads, fencing of schools, hospitals, courts premises, and reconstruction of some abandoned buildings at the Council Headquarters are being undertaken by his administration.
He enjoined the people of the area to support his administration’s drive to bring purposeful development to the LGA.
The Emohua Council boss, who reiterated his hatred for noise making, stated that his works would speak for him, and solicited the support of staff of the council and the entire people of the area.
He noted the fact that some people may not be happy with his achievements, saying that he would remain focused, while advising critics of his government to do so constructively with facts and figures.
King Onunwor
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has raised some ethical questions over a Financial and Technical Services Agreement (FTSA) between Sahara Energy and West African Gas Limited (WAGL), an affiliate of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
MOSOP said the agreement was not done in good faith, not in the interest of the Nigerian people, and did not follow due process.
Foremost Ogoni born activist and MOSOP leader, Fegalo Nsuke, who made this known in Abuja, weekend, described the Sahara-WAGL deal as fraudulent, deceptive and an insult on the intelligence and integrity of the Nigerian nation.
Nsuke called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to cancel that FTSA between Sahara Energy and WAGL, noting that the agreement is fraught with irregularities and deceptive.
“What Sahara and the NNPC did in the FTSA between Sahara and WAGL is shameful and depicts high level corruption in public service of our country.
“WAGL is an affiliate of Sahara and the NNPC. How then can Sahara go into an agreement with its own affiliate? It’s as good as going into an agreement with itself. This is deceptive and fraudulent”, Nsuke said.
He continued that “Sahara Energy is certainly not a company the Ogoni people want on their soil and we are calling on Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to terminate any deal between the NNPC and Sahara Energy over OML 11, and to allow for an inclusive arrangement that considers a fair treatment of the Ogoni people in the distribution of revenues from natural resource extraction on Ogoni soil.
“The last Ogoni Congress has been unequivocal on the Ogoni demand for justice and has given a clear path to resolve the three decade old conflict between all critical parties.
“It will be good to explore this path to peace and development for Ogoni and for our country”.
Nsuke accused Sahara Energy and the NNPC of frustrating the progress made by MOSOP to achieve a permanent solution to the Ogoni problem.
He urged a presidential intervention with deep consideration for a fair treatment of the Ogoni people in order to permanently address the problem.
He noted that Sahara Energy should give up on the Ogoni area to allow for an engagement in the interest of the country and the people.
Recall that MOSOP and Sagara Energy have recently been engaged in a row in what MOSOP describes as an unholy relationship between Sahara Energy and the NNPC over OML 11.
MOSOP expressly rejected Sahara Energy and called for a fair treatment of the Ogoni people in natural resource extraction in Ogoni.
It noted that Ogoni people, led by MOSOP, paid the sacrifice to take the oil from Shell, hence “the position of MOSOP must be taken into consideration in decisions relating to resumption of oil production in Ogoni”.