While it may be a positive sign that they are coming to Treasury to ask for the right to hand out "retention bonuses" this is still troubling because this is one of the banks that has paid out bonuses based on revenue whether real or fake in recent years. Maybe Citi ought to go back to the bums they shoveled bonuses to including Charles Prince. Let Citi fight that legal fight if they want it so badly. There is no reason why taxpayers ought to spend one more penny helping Citi when Citi has thumbed its nose at the American way. Break this beast up and let's move on.
Citigroup has asked the U.S. Treasury for permission to pay special bonuses and is looking for ways to free an energy-trading unit from government restrictions, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Website on Tuesday.Geithner has of course been very cozy with Citi for a number of years so if he denies this request it will be shocking. The only way he would do that is if mistakenly thought Citi was GM.
Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner earlier this month to be allowed to pay stock-based bonuses to employees but the government has not made up its mind yet, the paper reported.
