C Citigroup Inc

By Telis Demos and Christina Rexrode 

Citigroup Inc. CEO Michael Corbat is getting a pay cut.

Mr. Corbat is expected to receive total compensation of $15.5 million for 2016, according to a regulatory filing from the bank Friday. That is a 6% decrease from the previous year, when he received $16.5 million.

The bank's board said that while it is pleased with the progress Citigroup is making, Mr. Corbat's compensation reflected the firm's performance relative to financial targets.

Under his 2016 compensation, Mr. Corbat will receive a salary of $1.5 million and a cash bonus of $4.2 million. The rest of the package comprises $9.8 million in stock that is dependent on the bank's performance. This is also deferred, meaning it will be paid out over coming years. That structure is meant to tie Mr. Corbat's compensation to the bank's longer-term performance.

Like other banks, Citigroup has benefited of late from a bustling trading environment that boosted results for the last three quarters. Like other banks, its stock price has jumped since the surprise election of President Donald Trump in November, which has fueled investors' hopes for looser regulation and economic growth.

For Citigroup in particular, 2016 represented a year in which the bank, often plagued by scandals, was able to stay under the radar and pass key regulatory tests.

But Mr. Corbat still needs to improve key measures of shareholder returns. Some analysts also have questioned how the bank, with operations around the world, will fare under a presidential administration that has expressed skepticism of free trade and globalization. Citigroup executives have maintained they have the right business plan in place.

The bank's 2016 profit was down 14% for the year, and revenue was down 8%.

Citigroup's compensation committee credited Mr. Corbat for the bank's biggest capital return to shareholders since the financial crisis, investment in key businesses and positive feedback from regulators. But the board committee also "felt it was appropriate to reflect the firm's performance relative to its financial targets," according to the filing.

By contrast, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. gave pay raises to their CEOs for 2016. Morgan Stanley gave James Gorman a 7% raise to $22.5 million, and J.P. Morgan gave CEO James Dimon a 4% pay raise to $28 million. Bank of America's Brian Moynihan received a 25% raise to $20 million.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. hasn't yet disclosed its pay package for CEO Lloyd Blankfein, though it has cut stock bonuses for other top executives. Wells Fargo & Co., which is struggling with the fallout from its sales-practices scandal, may withhold bonuses from CEO Timothy Sloan and other top executives, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Write to Telis Demos at telis.demos@wsj.com and Christina Rexrode at christina.rexrode@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 17, 2017 18:09 ET (23:09 GMT)

Citigroup (NYSE:C)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024

Citigroup (NYSE:C)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024