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I have been posting so much bad news over the last couple of years that I thought it would be interesting to try something different for a change: look for something that's truly good. If I can find it, I'll tell you what the good news is, why it's important, and what it means for the rest of the world. Today's installment: Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) new approach to paying bankers -- which has the potential to keep what broke Wall Street from happening in the future.
Morgan Stanley has decided to create a program to claw back bonuses if the firm loses money in the future. Instead of paying out tens of millions to bankers all in the year they make it, Morgan Stanley will hold the cash in an account and dole it out over three years. The clawback would be triggered by the need for a restatement of results, a significant financial loss or other reputational harm to Morgan Stanley.
Why does this matter? What the current financial crisis tells us is that it doesn't make sense to do big deals if they end up losing money in the future. That leaves someone else -- in this case government to clean up the mess while the people who made those deals keep their millions.
How so? In 2007, bankers made a total of $38 billion in bonuses alone -- even though their shareholders lost $74 billion in stock market value. That's because their reported profits were fake. In the last few years the top nine banks have reported $305 billion in profits -- but since then they've taken $323 billion in write-offs.
I think this is a great idea because it will change banker's decision making so that their own self-interest is tied to the long-term value of Morgan Stanley and those who invest in its deals. I have been arguing for this change since July 2007. And I have since posted about it here, here, here, here, and here. I think that the rest of the banking industry should follow Morgan Stanley's example.
It won't fix the current problem but it will go part of the way towards keeping it from happening again.Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.
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