Bank Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg Circumscribed Powers Hampered Abilities to do Effective Job

Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg told Bloomberg’s Judy Woodruff in an interview that

“The biggest disappointment, I think, is that under the statute my jurisdiction is so narrow, and so circumscribed, that I have no real direct mandatory power over other Wall Street or other national companies,”

Feinberg said his “biggest accomplishment” as pay special master is Citigroup and Bank of America’s repayment of U.S. aid.“I find that to be the primary objective, and we achieved it,” he said.

Curiously Feinberg is taking credit for BAC and Citigroup’s repayment of TARP funds before 2009 ended, which would allow Citi execs to pay themselves taxpayer subsidized bonuses. The reason is this is a curious statement  is that the repayment of TARP had nothing to do with his job description or mandate. Feinberg was simply the pay czar who determined bank execs compensation of banks receiving TARP funds.  The statement that he found the repayment of TARP to be the primary objective of his job suggests Feinberg has a very distorted perception what his actual job was.