Geithner sees no US caps on executive pay

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said yesterday government should place "broad constraints" on the incentives that huge pay packages create for executives to take short-term risks. But he drew the line at government determining levels of pay.

"I don't think our government should set caps on compensation," Geithner said during an interview at an invitation-only luncheon hosted by Newsweek.

He said government's goal should be to minimize excessive risk-taking by financial firms - the kind of gambles that helped precipitate the current financial crisis. "You had a crisis magnified by the fact that people were paid to take huge amounts of short-term risk," he said. "That's something that is preventable."

Geithner said government standards could require incentive pay be tied to long-term performance. He said such standards could combine with compensation disclosure requirements and giving shareholders the ability to vote on salary packages - a practice known as "say on pay."

Wall Street bonuses and retention packages have provoked anger among the public and in Congress. Lawmakers have moved to limit pay for top employees at financial institutions that have received federal government assistance. The standards Geithner envisioned would apply to all financial institutions.

Geithner also said the US economy is stabilizing but unemployment would continue to rise. He pointed to positive signs in the economy, including improvements in credit markets. But he called the recession the most challenging economic crisis the nation has seen in generations.

"We're not going to have a steady, even process of repair," he said. "It's going to be bumpy and still feel fragile for a while. It's not going to feel better for a long time for millions of Americans."