Wall Street Employees Think Banker Pay Would Increase Under Romney

By Pat Garofalo/Think Progress

Wall Street pay this year is expected to increase by up to 10 percent over 2011, according to the latest surveys. And Wall Street financiers think that number Mitt Romney would be even better for their compensation, as Bloomberg News reported:

A win by Mitt Romney in tomorrow’s U.S. presidential election is more likely to boost Wall Street compensation than if voters re-elect President Barack Obama, according to a survey conducted by eFinancialCareers.

The poll of 911 financial-market professionals found 57 percent expect the election to change compensation, while 32 percent said it won’t and 11 percent said they didn’t know, eFinancialCareers said in a statement.

Of those who expect the election to influence pay, 72 percent view a victory by Romney, a Republican, as having a “positive” effect on compensation, the survey found. Re- electing Obama, a Democrat, was viewed as positive for compensation by 18 percent and negative by 71 percent, the survey found.

Romney has vowed to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which includes measures aimed at reining in the bad pay incentives on Wall Street. It allows the Federal Reserve to veto pay packages that encourage risk that could lead to a new round of bank bailouts. It also allows for shareholder votes on pay packages; the first negative vote was handed to former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit.

High pay on Wall Street has exacerbated income inequality over the last several decades, and while bankers brought in higher and higher paychecks, they took on more and more risk, eventually culminating in a financial crisis. Now, even some Wall Street executives are pushing back against outsized pay packages. Morgan Stanley CEO acknowledged last month that Wall Street pay is “way too high.”