CLAWBACKS ARE MUCH DISCUSSED, RARELY ENFORCED | "In the almost 10 years since clawback policies became a hot topic among investors, there is little indication that they have resulted in significant recoveries," Gretchen Morgenson writes in The New York Times.
By rejecting things like clawbacks, English law reflects the importance accorded to markets and to strong private-property rights, which means permitting people to dispose of their estates as they wish.Being of sound but several minds…This is political stuff, that trumps labels like left or right.
But other headaches are proving harder to solve, notably what to do about clawbacks, which are unknown in English law.
But British officials fear clawbacks could still cause chaos, perhaps reversing a donation made years ago to a British charity by a foreigner living in London.
Following president Barack Obama's excoriation of Wall Street bonuses, Mr Cuomo could demand clawbacks on the $4 billion awarded to the bank's employees.And Illinois no longer has to worry about that pesky anti-Blagojevich clause in the stimulus legislation.
Mark Cuoco, an executive at Marsh, says they realised that the provision for pay clawbacks was making Wall Street executives especially nervous, so it made sense to create a product that explicitly covered them against such a risk.
So far, he has recovered about $1.5bn from the sale of Madoff's personal assets, settlements with Madoff's business associates, and clawbacks from some investors who were lucky enough to have taken a lot of money out of their Madoff accounts.
A key question about clawbacks is how long they remain in effect.
And all bonuses should have provision for clawbacks in the event that malfeasance is subsequently discovered".
When I asked her how this could be done, she said: "There should be personal certifications and, at a minimum, civil penalties assessed by the banking regulators against the boards and management, as well as compensation clawbacks if there are losses to the organization because of proprietary trading.
The ability to demand clawbacks is part of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law, which also mandates that companies give shareholders a nonbinding vote on "say on pay" so that investors can voice their opinions on executive compensation.
