U.S. Rejects Increases in 2013 Salaries for GM Brass

The Dept. of the Treasury's special paymaster has denied a request from General Motors Co. to boost the cash salaries of some of its executives this year. The paymaster did the same in 2012.

The Treasury Dept. has the right to limit the pay of executives at companies that received U.S. bailouts in 2008-2009 until that aid is repaid. The department has reduced its GM stake to 16.4% from 60.8% in 2009. It plans to sell the remaining shares by next March.

Paymaster Patricia Geoghegan insists that the company comply with the government's original cap of $500,000 on cash pay for senior managers, except for "exceptional cases."

The Treasury Dept. says cash compensation for GM's top 25 executives will shrink 31% to $6.6 million in 2013. That's because 10 of them are newly promoted to the top echelon and will initially earn less than their more seasoned predecessors.

The U.S. wants the company to tie most of a senior manager's compensation to GM's performance by granting stock and option awards.

The company reports that it requested raises for 12 unidentified executives to enable it to retain top talent. GM says it did not seek a raise for CEO Dan Akerson. He was paid a cash salary of $1.7 million last year in addition to $9.3 million in stock awards.