WASHINGTON – The Obama administration says it’s chosen a Treasury Department lawyer to replace pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, who stepped down Friday, ending a contentious 14-month tenure.

Feinberg was accused of failing to act aggressively enough to recoup excessive pay for Wall Street bankers. He said in a final report that he thought his work had helped reform compensation policies.

The administration says Patricia Geoghegan will replace Feinberg. She will be responsible for setting pay guidelines for top executives at the four companies still getting exceptional assistance from the government’s $700 billion bailout fund: American International Group, General Motors, Chrysler and Ally Financial Inc., the financing arm for GM and Chrysler.

Geoghegan spent much of the past year working with Feinberg. She came to Treasury after retiring as a partner from New York law firm Cravath, Swaine and Moore, where she specialized in tax law and executive compensation.

In his report, Feinberg recommended that the administration tap a permanent Treasury official to head up the compensation office.

He also recommended that the core compensation guidelines that had been developed should serve as the guides for future compensation decisions. Those standards include placing limits on guaranteed cash payments and requiring that compensation packages have a significant performance component.

 

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