Golden handshake
I don’t hold shares in the National Australia Bank, but my business accounts are with them. As a customer and interested observer I find the $14 million payout to Frank Cicutto offensive.
The clear inference from his termination, whether voluntary or forced, is that he accepts responsibilty for the rogue money trading scandal.
A golden handshake for failing to perform isn’t appropriate in these circumstances.
The Age today reported that the $14 million payout comprises a mix of accumulated superannuation, annual leave ($2.9 million), cash bonus and vested options.
No business should allow any employee to accumulate $2.9 million in annual leave. Frank should have taken more holidays. If his body was fresh and his mind clear he might have performed better in the top job.
Executive salaries are out of control. Apart from shareholder pressure the only solution I can think of is to tax people earning more than $1 million a year at something like 80 cents in the dollar above the $1 million threshold.
It’s crazy that people earning $70,000 a year are in the top tax bracket along with the likes of Cicutto and Packer.
I'm a 41-year-old father of four working as a newspaper editor at Mount Gambier in South Australia.
