Merrill Lynch paid itself $4 Billion in bonuses 3 days before the bankrupt company was taken over by Bank of America?!!!!
Three questions: Where was the oversight? Surely, once it was known that bailout money was going into the banks (and Merrill, or its rescuer was clearly going to be a recipient), a method of overseeing the financial management of these companies needed to be created? Or did the government just trust that they would do ‘the right thing’?
Secondly: What on earth was Bank of America doing? Didn’t they do any checks, or did they just assume that the government would cover all of the losses incurred?
Thirdly: How do we change corporate culture to get the definition of ‘bonus’ to return to be something that is paid for creating success, not just turning up every day?
