Mass. CEOs likely avoid salary cuts like Lewis’s

One analyst said the situation is unique because of Bank of America’s circumstances: It received $45 billion in government aid during the financial crisis last year, is facing multiple government investigations over whether it misled shareholders about its purchase of troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch, and chief executive Lewis is already due to receive $64 million in accrued pension and deferred compensation after he leaves the company at the end of this year.

“I think this is a very unique situation,’’ said Charlie Tharp, an executive vice president for the Center on Executive Compensation in Washington, D.C. “So I wouldn’t expect it to have a generalized impact on executive compensation.’’

In addition, the new compensation czar at the US Treasury who pushed Lewis to surrender his salary and potential bonus has the authority to set pay only at seven companies that received the largest amounts of US aid. The companies under Kenneth Feinberg’s purview are AIG, Chrysler, Chrysler Financial, Citigroup, General Motors, and GMAC Financial Services. None is based in Massachusetts.

In Massachusetts, 10 financial institutions have received aid under the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was intended to shore up the US financial system, prevent other major institutions from failing, and encourage banks to lend.

But three of the banks, including State Street Corp. of Boston, have already returned the money, meaning they probably will not be subject to any additional restrictions on executive compensation.

State Street received $2 billion, the largest amount among Massachusetts institutions, and was in the group of nine large institutions that government officials first requested take the aid.

State Street’s Ronald E. Logue was the highest paid chief executive in Massachusetts in 2008, according to an analysis by the AFL-CIO of securities filings by 160 of the largest publicly traded companies in Massachusetts. Even though he did not receive a bonus for 2008, Logue’s total compensation amounted to $24.5 million, according to the labor organization’s calculations.

The seven Massachusetts banks still holding US government money are much smaller, such as Boston Private Financial Holdings and Wainwright Bank & Trust in Boston, and generally have smaller pay packages. Timothy Vaill, Boston Private’s chief executive, received $2.3 million in total compensation last year, including $650,000 in salary, the company reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Jan Miller, Wainwright’s chief executive, received nearly $600,000 last year, including $370,000 in salary, the company said.

Pay packages have fallen slightly, though, as the recession cuts corporate earnings and reduces the value of stock awards. Equilar, an executive compensation research firm, estimated the average compensation for CEOs at S&P 500 companies fell 7.5 percent last year. Tharp said it’s possible pay could fall again this year. “In general, there’s a really strong pay-for-performance relationship,’’ he said.

But some shareholders and government officials were concerned about Lewis’s pay package, especially his retirement benefits, because of the controversy surrounding the Merrill Lynch deal and the massive amount of aid Bank of America received from the government. Feinberg, the Treasury’s Department’s pay czar, doesn’t have the authority to rescind the retirement package, because it was negotiated before he took office. But he successfully pressured Lewis to give up his $1.5 million annual salary and forgo any possible bonus this year.

Vineeta Anand, chief research analyst for the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, praised Feinberg’s move.

“It’s high time that Mr. Lewis accept responsibility’’ for the Merrill Lynch deal. “Shareholders have suffered as a result of Mr. Lewis’s decision.’’

But Anand said more needs to be done. The AFL-CIO, along with other shareholder advocates, wants companies to do more to tie pay to long-term performance.

Anand said many executives earned rich compensation packages based on the promise that they were building shareholder value. But much of that value was wiped out when the stock market fell over the past two years.

“When it disappeared, executives kept the compensation they received, while shareholders were stuck with the losses,’’ she said.

Todd Wallack can be reached at twallack@globe.com.