"(We) thought it might be helpful for us to outline our view of the respective roles of OFHEO and Fannie Mae’s Board of Director [sic] relating to executive compensation… We believe OFHEO should determine whether Fannie Mae provides "excessive compensation" to its executive officers by reviewing the process that the Board of Directors uses to set executive compensation and ensuring that compensation is established pursuant to the process…." May 15, 1996, letter of Anastasia Kelly, General Counsel of Fannie Mae, to Anne E. Dewey, OFHEO General Counsel. – footnote in this book1
Just a little food for thought as the forensic analysts go over the role of executive compensation in bringing on the Panic of ‘08. And perhaps today’s headlines2 can throw some context on the above dull bit of history.
“General counsel are supposed to be setting a prime example of good ethics at a company, not acting as carpetbaggers as they leave,” Frank Glassner, chief executive officer of Veritas Executive Compensation Consultants LLC, said yesterday in an interview. “This severance pay is ridiculous.”
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[1]: "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: scandal in U.S. housing" (2007), by Eric Weiss.
[2]: "AIG Said to Give Departing Lawyer $3.8 Million in Severance Pay", by Hugh Son, Bloomberg / BusinessWeek, December 31, 2009.
