Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein received compensation from stock and options valued at $42.9 million during fiscal 2008 according to the Associated Press.

Though the compensation was for performance prior to 2008 and Blankfein received no compensation tied to his performance last year, examples like this once again question whether drastic collapses should require CEOs to forgo performance pay promised in good years.

Goldman Sachs took $10 billion in TARP money while reporting its first ever quarterly loss last year - facts that led to a drop in its share price that erased all gains since 2005.

Ford Motor Company is alone among its Detroit peers in not having accepted bail-out funds. Even so, let's be clear: the company is not doing well, with the need for government assistance not out of the question and its stock down more than 50% over the past year.

The question is then, why did Ford CEO Alan Mulally get compensation valued in a company filing at $13.7 million last year? Sure, his compensation dropped by 37% from 2007 (a year in which Ford shares also lost money), but it is still unjustifiably high.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testified before the House Financial Services Committee today, primarily a public scolding where Brad Sherman (D.- California) criticized his handling of AIG and its bonuses.

On the topic of executive compensation broadly, Geithner said:

"I do think it is appropriate to put in place strong standards that govern compensation" broadly, but cautioned that the government "should not be setting precise, detailed amounts of compensation and distribution."

Part of the strong standards for compensation could be encouraging better bonus incentives for risk-managers and auditors in order to attract the best talent to those departments of the company, Geithner added.

According to The New York Times, the Obama administration will offer a proposal this week that will "seek a broad new role for the Federal Reserve to oversee large companies, including major hedge funds, whose problems could pose risks to the entire financial system."

A part of this plan will supposedly require executive compensation to be more closely tied to the company's performance and financial interests, but no details have been announced.

If government officials comments so far are to be believed, this pay reform plan would not just apply to firms receiving bailout funds but all "large companies, including hedge funds, whose problems could pose risks to the entire financial system" - though once again there are no details yet on how this group would be defined.

Despite most headlines correctly noting that Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis had his pay cut in half in 2008 compared to the year before, the 58% drop in his compensation was less severe than the drop in the company's stock price last year. Worse, Lewis still made $10 million in 2008 according to company filings (though the stock option awards are probably worthless right now).

Lewis' pay included:

• $1.5 million in base salary
• $4.3 million in stock awards
• $3.1 million in stock option awards
• $854,256 for the change in pension value and deferred compensation
• "other expenses" of $275,125 - primarily the use of company aircraft and home security services

Blackstone Group LP CEO Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder and chair of the company, did not receive any compensation last year other than his $350,000 base salary.

Schwarzman basically worked for free relative to the whopping $180 million he was paid in 2007 in addition to the $684 million he received when the company went public.

Blackstone shares lost 70% of their value last year, performing far worse than the major indexes.

Fifth Third Bancorp CEO Kevin Kabat had his 2008 pay cut in half compared to 2007.

Though he still received $3.1 million in pay last year, he saw his compensation drop significantly from the $6.2 million he received in 2007.

Unfortunately for investors, the company's shares lost more of their value than his pay last. Fifth Third shares plummeted 67% in 2008. Also, Kabat's salary actually went up 4% in 2008.

From the Dayton Business Journal:

Kabat still received a salary of $900,000, up 4 percent from $867,000 in 2007. He also received $815,000 in stock awards and $1.2 million in stock options. His pay also included $26,589 in perks, including country club dues, parking fees and trust and estate planning services.

MBIA Inc., primarily a bond insurer, announced earlier this week that its board adopted a new shareholder voting policy for senior executive pay decisions.

From Forbes.com:

Shareholders will be able to vote on whether they approve of the compensation for the company's CEO - currently Jay Brown. The vote will be considered by the board's compensation committee in determining the CEO's compensation for subsequent periods.

Shareholders will also take an advisory vote on annual compensation awarded to senior executives as a whole.

Shareholders will be afforded the right to a third vote for any one-time compensation awards given to the CEO or other senior executive offices. Those votes on one-time awards will be binding.

From the USA Today:

The profit at SunTrust Banks last year was half of what it was in 2007. The stock price was also cut in half, but the company's board of directors approved a 75% increase in the 2008 total compensation of CEO James Wells to $8.1 million, according to the SunTrust proxy filed late Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Even better, though SunTrust is in much better shape than many other banks, it has also received some bailout money.

A company spokesperson responded by saying that the company's proxy statement overstates the value of Wells' compensation because of the vast drop since then in SunTrust's stock price - which is true but doesn't explain the 7.7% increase in Wells' cash salary in 2008.