Click to play videoLondon: "The party is over. The era of golden parachutes for high-flying Wall Street operators is over," says the US Congress and says greed isn't good, it's unacceptable.
An apparent casualty of the global financial crisis is that failed executives resigning and jumping out of their top-floor offices will no longer get the golden parachute.
Golden parachutes or golden handshakes are the colourful names for the huge payments given to executives who fail, leaving their company or bank in a far worse position than they found it.
Dick Fuld, who oversaw Lehman brothers' collapse, received $35 million. Citigroup's Chuck Prince got almost $40 million. Merrill Lynch’s Stan O'Neal parachuted with a $161 million package.
The numbers have inspired public outrage, especially given the public money now bailing out world finance.
It seems really inappropriate at times of great need when other people need it a lot more than they do.
"It's seen to be sort of a reward for incompetence and that does not down well with the general public because it's seen to be unfair or if you like unethical," says a business ethicist.
There may be public will to wipe out golden parachutes from corporate culture but governments have not yet declared an intention to change laws. It could be up to the industry or even individuals.
British shareholder groups say in recent years the situation has improved in London where failed executives usually get one year's salary with any extras determined by how well or how badly they did their job.
Big rewards in the finance industry are usually justified as the only way to attract the best people who then make lots more money.
However, it is a difficult argument to maintain at a time with historic levels of failure and record tax payer funded bailouts.
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