Obama administration pledges to strike proper balance with executive compensation

Administration pledges to achieve balance in pay

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is pledging to strike the proper balance in decisions about executive compensation at banks that have received billions of dollars of taxpayer bailout money.

The Treasury Department says the administration is aggressively implementing the law that Congress passed to govern compensation and plans to achieve a balance that would discourage excessive risk taking while rewarding performance for top executives.

Treasury issued the statement in response to questions about reports that Citigroup Inc. was increasing the base salaries of many of its employees in light of the restrictions on bonuses.