At least you know where your taxes are going, America.
"State Street gets $885m tax refund; Losses mean it’s entitled, despite bailout, $1.6b profit" April 14, 2011|By Beth Healy, Globe Staff
Two years after receiving a $2 billion taxpayer-funded bailout, State Street Corp. expects to receive a federal tax refund of $885 million for 2010, the company confirmed, after taking losses on risky investments.
And they get it just like you, American: in check form
It’s not that times were tough: Boston-based State Street reported a $1.6 billion profit last year. The company manages money for pensions and handles accounting for hedge funds and mutual funds, and its revenues were up amid strong markets. But, like many other banks and companies, State Street was able to offset its tax bill with big losses sustained during the financial crisis.
Un-flipping-real
“It’s really common,’’ said Robert Willens, a specialist in corporate taxation. “Many, many of the banks have built up losses from prior years. These companies won’t be paying taxes for many years, until such time as they become profitable and they realize all their losses.’’
State Street paid $1.1 billion in federal taxes in 2008, according to its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That dropped to $75 million in 2009, after the company took a $3.7 billion charge to cover investments linked to mortgages that had plunged in value. Then, in December, it announced it would sell $11 billion in troubled investments, which triggered more losses.
“That will eventually entitle us to a refund of taxes,’’ said Arlene Roberts, a spokeswoman for State Street.
See how the money addicts think? They are ENTITLED!
Related: Budget deal wins passage on Capitol Hill
I guess you are not, American taxpayers.
As many as 30 percent of US corporations will pay no federal taxes this year, by Willens’s estimate. General Electric Co. has drawn sharp criticism for paying zero taxes, despite earning more than $14 billion last year. While ordinary Americans are rushing to file their tax returns by Monday and lawmakers in Washington are cutting budgets and resisting tax hikes, many of the nation’s largest companies are paying no taxes at all.
Is there ANY DOUBT you are living in a PERFECTLY FASCIST COUNTRY, America?
“Corporations like State Street paying zip despite $1.55 billion in profit is beyond an outrage,’’ said Rich Rogers, executive secretary-treasurer at the Greater Boston Labor Council. He is part of a consortium of groups that represent workers and low-income families planning a protest in the financial district today over banks and Wall Street firms failing to pay taxes, while foreclosing on homeowners and continuing to pay their executives generously.
I didn't see the Globe follow up on that today.
State Street chief executive Joseph “Jay’’ L. Hooley’s total compensation last year was $12.9 million. The company’s chairman, Ronald Logue, who retired in January after overseeing State Street’s foray into risky fixed-income investments, earned $594,000 in salary and director pay. He also had a car and driver valued at $74,000, among other perks.
This as Americans suffer, starve, and have their services slashed.
The company cut 2,200 jobs in 2008 and 2009 and in December announced another round of layoffs, including 400 people in the Boston area and 1,000 in other locations, or 5 percent of its workforce.
Frees up more money for you know.
But State Street was profitable last year. Some other big banks that are not paying income taxes this year, notably Bank of America Corp., lost money in 2010....
Related: BoA Backstabbings
For State Street and other companies, carrying forward large losses puts a positive spin on news that battered their stocks when it came to light over the past few years.
That is why I'm not reading the banker's paper anymore.
Now that the losses have been recognized, Willens said, “They take on a positive tone because they can be used to shelter future profits from taxation.’’
I'm just sitting here wondering WhyTF they got a bailout then.
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Oh, right:
"Logue receives final million-dollar payout from State Street" April 07, 2011|By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff
Ronald Logue ended a two-decade tenure at State Street Corp., the last six years as its chief executive and then chairman, with a final million-dollar payout and a few last perks.
Related: Executive Payday: State Street Escape
The Boston financial services giant disclosed yesterday that Logue received $1.6 million in stock last year that he had earned as part of a performance-based bonus plan. For the two months of 2010 that he served as chief executive, Logue was paid $176,923 in salary. He received another $416,667 for being chairman of the company’s board of directors the rest of the year. The company also recorded an additional $8.4 million cost for his pension....
How much more money can they throw at this guy?
In 2008 he was among the highest paid chief executives of of a publicly traded company in Massachusetts, with a compensation pack age worth $24.5 million. He also previously received a $6 million “transition award’’ at his stepping down as chief executive....
These looters look for any way at all to throw money around, don't they?
He has been succeeded as chief executive by Joseph L. Hooley, who received $12.9 million in total compensation last year, a 7 percent drop from the year before, according to the main compensation table in the company’s filing.
Oh, how will he ever survive?
A State Street spokeswoman points out the primary compensation table required by the Securities and Exchange Commission skews the timing of some of the executives’ compensation. For example, some of the stock grants attributed to Logue and other executives for 2010 were actually for work performed the previous year. Like many companies, State Street typically makes its annual stock grants in February, to reward executives for the previous year. But the SEC requires companies to report stock awards in the same year they were awarded.
I'm so SICK of LAME, SHELL GAME EXCUSES being offered up by the banker's press.
By State Street’s calculations, Hooley’s pay actually increased from $9.5 million in 2009, when he was the company’s chief operating office, to $12.9 million in 2010, when he succeeded Logue.
Some of the stock awards contain restrictions, so executives may not be able to cash in all those shares immediately. And the actual value that executives receive in cash depends on when they sell the stock and how the stock performs.
The highest paid State Street executive last year was Scott F. Powers, who runs State Street’s investment management unit and received $13.5 million in total compensation. That includes $8.8 million in stock awards and a $3.7 million bonus. State Street said a portion of the award was to recognize his leadership in dealing with issues stemming from the financial crisis and was intended to help retain him.
After a while you just become numb to the numbers.
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And "another sign of the remarkable comeback of banks":
"With Fed OK, State St. raises dividend" March 19, 2011|By Beth Healy, Globe Staff
State Street Corp. yesterday said it will raise its quarterly stock dividend for the first time since the financial crisis, after receiving approval from the Federal Reserve....
Since the $700 billion financial bailout in September 2008, the Fed has kept closer tabs on the finances of Wall Street firms and major banks. Those companies were under pressure to cut dividends in order to preserve capital to weather losses during the financial crisis but many are now sitting on large stores of cash.
I thought they were supposed to spending or loaning that money.
State Street spokeswoman Carolyn Cichon said the dividend increase and stock buyback reflect the company’s “commitment to delivering long-term value to our shareholders and our belief that we are well positioned to take advantage of global growth opportunities.”
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Just wondering where those would be:
"State Street on track after crisis, CEO says; Bank sees promise in new markets" March 25, 2011|By Beth Healy, Globe Staff
State Street Corp. chief executive Jay Hooley sees long-term opportunity for State Street in handling retirement funds. With states and municipalities in the United States and Europe under pressure to shift from costly traditional pensions, he said, State Street aims to capture growth in 401(k)-type plans and individual retirement accounts that rise in their place.
As they hand out traditional pensions. Un-flipping-real.
Asia is a nascent market for retirement saving, he said. And Latin America and South America are giant markets that State Street has yet to penetrate. He called Latin America “perhaps the next entry point for us.’’
That ain't you, 'murkn.
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The looters ain't alone:
"Highest-paid CEOs made less in’10; Compensation in 2d year drops off" April 09, 2011|By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff
The three highest-paid chief executives in Massachusetts took big pay cuts last year.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s Marc N. Casper, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Matthew W. Emmens, and Boston Scientific Corp.’s J. Raymond Elliott had their compensation slashed last year, according to the companies’ recent filings. The trio topped last year’s Globe survey of chief executive pay at Massachusetts public companies when all three were new on the job.
Casper earned $2.8 million in total compensation last year, down from $34.1 million in 2009 when he was first promoted as Thermo Fisher’s chief executive. Emmens received $14.9 million in total compensation in 2010, down from $19.3 million when he first joined Vertex in 2009. Elliott earned $4.9 million last year, down from $33.5 million in 2009 when he became CEO at Boston Scientific.
Related: Executive Payday: Vile Vertex
Executive Payday: What's in Your Pay Package?
Executive compensation consultants say firms frequently give new chief executives supersized pay packages — which are largely made up of stock and options — to offset any benefits they had to surrender when they left their old job, give them an incentive to boost the company’s stock price, or encourage them to stick with the company long term. But those awards typically aren’t repeated year after year.
“In subsequent years, [the pay] will come down,’’ said Aubrey Bout, partner with Pay Governance LLC, an executive compensation advisory firm in Wellesley. Bout also said companies are becoming more careful about paying chief executives for performance because of new federal rules requiring US companies to give shareholders a chance to vote on the pay packages (though the votes are typically nonbinding)....
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Those guys are small fry when compared to Wall Street:
"Wall St. bonuses down in 2010, to $20.8b" by Michael Virtanen, Associated Press / February 24, 2011
ALBANY, N.Y. — Wall Street paid an estimated $20.8 billion in bonuses to New York City securities industry employees for 2010, the first full year after the national recession officially ended, Thomas DiNapoli, New York state comptroller, said yesterday. The estimate of bonuses is down 8 percent from $22.5 billion actually paid in 2009. But....
But what?
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