Citigroup’s Pandit continues to settle for $1 salary

Banking giant Citigroup's Indian-born chief executive Vikram Pandit will continue to work for an annual salary of $1 even as the group raised the annual base salary for two of its executives, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

Pandit, who in January voluntarily agreed to accept $1 per year until the bank returned to profitability, also didn't receive stock awards, even as other executives got raises. Chief financial officer, John Gerspach was bumped up from $400,000 to $500,000, annually and co-head of global markets James Forese received a boost from $225,000 to $475,000.

The two executives also received company stock, with $2.92 million going to Gerspach and $5.44 million awarded to Forese. Vice-chairman Stephen Volk also received $3.4 million, according to the filing.

The stock awards were compliant with the government's compensation guidelines for banks participating in the troubled asset relief programme, the New York-based bank said.

Citigroup, which received a $45 billion government bailout last year, has pledged to keep paying employees competitively. Treasury paymaster Kenneth Feinberg on 22 October approved a total of $118.4 million of payouts to 21 executives, or an average of $5.6 million each. They got $390.2 million, or $18.6 million each in the previous year.

Not included in Citigroup's filing Tuesday were separate "long-term restricted stock" bonuses approved by Feinberg that will be made early next year based on 2009 performance.

Under that programme, Forese may get as much as $2.85 million extra, Gerspach may receive $1.67 million and Volk may get $1.95 million, documents released by Feinberg show. The bonus shares can't be sold until Citigroup repays its bailout money.