| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Calls grow for NYSE's Grasso to go
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Managers of three U.S. state pension funds totaling nearly $500 billion called on New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso to resign Tuesday and for the exchange's board of directors to cut the $140 million Grasso received in deferred pay and retirement benefits. "Richard Grasso has lost the ability to implement needed reforms at the NYSE and to regulate and monitor its members and listed companies," New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi said in a statement issued Tuesday. "His effectiveness on the key issues of fighting corporate corruption and improving corporate governance has been shattered. The enormous amount of his remuneration is inappropriate for a regulator." And at a news conference in Sacramento, California, Sean Harrigan -- president of the board of directors of the California Public Employees'Retirement System -- put it more bluntly: "Today, we're trying to pull the pig away from the trough," he said. "The next step is to find out who filled up the trough." North Carolina Treasurer Richard Moore also called for Grasso to step down. California State Treasurer Phil Angelides joined Harrigan in calling for Grasso's resignation, saying the exchange chief's compensation sent "the wrong signal" to investors. "If you care about the markets -- if you care about the sanctity of the marketplace and transparency -- Dick Grasso should resign and revise the pay package," Angelides said. Grasso has come under criticism following disclosure of his $140 million pay package, which covers retirement and incentive benefits over his 36 years at the exchange. Critics have charged that the amount is excessive for someone with regulatory duties. The stock exchange announced last month that it had extended Grasso's contract by two years, until 2007, and given to Grasso his savings account balance of $40 million, his accrued retirement benefit of $51.6 million, and his account balance of $47.9 million from prior incentive awards. A spokesman for the stock exchange declined comment on the calls for Grasso's resignation. A spokesman for NYSE director H. Carl McCall, who is chairman of the board's governance and compensation committee, said McCall had no comment as well. Traders on the floor of the stock exchange flocked around televisions to watch the news conference from Sacramento. Some shook their heads, but others smiled. "This is a more significant development than anything that could come out of this trading floor," one said. Added another: "He's done." Floor traders are scheduled to meet with three members of the NYSE board of directors Thursday to discuss the issue. But a member of the board dismissed reports Monday that the exchange is considering asking Grasso to leave over the hefty pay package. The board member said the amount "looks excessive in hindsight," but made sense at the time because the NYSE had been trying to retain a top executive.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
