Govt. rewarded bank auditors with big bonuses

As banks gambled on the risky mortgages that helped create the worst financial crisis in generations, the U.S. government handed out millions of dollars in bonuses to regulators at agencies that missed or ignored warning signs that the system was on the verge of a meltdown. The bonuses, detailed in payroll data released to The Associated Press, are the latest evidence of the government's false sense of security during the go-go days of the financial boom. Just as bank executives got bonuses despite taking on dangerous amounts of risk, regulators got taxpayer-funded bonuses for doing "superior" work monitoring the banks. The bonuses, released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, were part of a reward program little known outside the government. Some government regulators got tens of thousands of dollars in perks, boosting their salaries by almost 25 percent. Often, though, rewards amounted to just a few hundred dollars for employees who came up with good ideas. During the 2003-06 boom, the three agencies that supervise most U.S. banks–records show the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency–gave out at least $19 million in bonuses. Nearly all that money was spent recognizing "superior" performance.