17 Financial Institutions Made $1B In Inappropriate Payments to Executives at The Height of the Crisis

Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation, popularly called the "pay czar", will cite 17 financial institutions for having made more than $1.6B in "not recommended" payments to its executives at the peak financial crisis. This according to sources quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Feinberg's report should be released on Friday. Among the banks that he should cite are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.

Feinberg has no authority to demand the return of such payments. However, he has authority to seek reimbursement by renegotiating payments deemed "inconsistent" with pay rules required by Congress, or any payments "contrary to the public interest.

"Several of the 419 institutions that received emergency funding from the federal government by the U.S. TARP program, including Goldman, JPMorgan and Citigroup, have already returned the money to the Treasury. Still others have not, including some that will be cited in the report.