U.S. unveils plans to slash executive compensation at seven bailout firms

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Obama administration on Thursday ordered seven firms that received the most federal aid to slash the compensation to their highest-paid employees.

The seven companies are Bank of America Corp., American International Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., General Motors, GMAC, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial.

The decision was made by Kenneth Feinberg, the special master at Treasury appointed to handle compensation issues as part of the government's 700-billion-dollar financial bailout package.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner immediately welcomed the order. "Ken Feinberg has done a commendable job of applying the strong compensation standards of the Congressional legislation to the companies that received exceptional assistance from the government," he said in a statement.

"We all share an interest in seeing these companies return taxpayer dollars as soon as possible, and Ken today has helped bring that day a little bit closer," he added.