By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — As Wall Street added the last zeros to its bonus checks, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent out letters to banks on Monday demanding descriptions of how the payouts were allocated.
Cuomo, who is rumored to be a gubernatorial candidate, held a conference call Monday afternoon saying banks would not have been in the position they are today if not for the taxpayers of this country.
“At the end of the day, I represent the people of New York and the tax payers paid a terrible price for this past economic recession,” Cuomo said.
The attorney general’s office sent letters to eight financial institutions that received TARP funding — including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Citigroup — asking the banks to detail how bonus amounts were determined.
A similar investigation last year revealed that bonuses were not properly tied to the financial performance of banks, Cuomo said.
The purpose of this year’s inquiry is to ensure that payouts are appropriate within the context of today’s financial environment, and properly structured to incentivize long term, sustainable growth — not short-term profit.
Coumo specifically asked that the banks describe how their bonuses had been affected by TARP funding.
Cuomo said that although the banks had repaid their government loans and done very well in 2009, the 10 percent unemployment rate reflected the continuing suffering of the American people.
“When you received TARP funding, your firm took on a new responsibility to taxpayers,” Cuomo’s letter read.
