Paul Hodgson is at the Corporate Library, a consulting firm that tracks executive compensation.
PAUL Hodgson: Almost as soon as these regulations came out, there were concerns that companies would immediately employ consultants to try and find a way around it.
In February Congress tightened the screws, banning all severance payments for top executives, and yesterday the administration issued new rules. But many banks already found ways around the ban.
Associated Banc Corp, based in the upper Midwest, took half a billion dollars in federal aid last fall. Then this May it paid its chief operating officer, Lisa Binder, $1.6 million to leave. But don’t call it a golden parachute. Instead, Binder signed an agreement not to compete against the bank. The Corporate Library’s Hodgson calls that cheating.