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CIT sets John Thain's salary at $6 million per year


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - CIT Group Inc said its new chief executive John Thain will get an annual base salary of $6 million, which is generous by Wall Street standards, and a bonus of up to another $1.5 million, which is relatively low.

    Thain's salary includes $500,000 in cash, $2.5 million of restricted CIT stock with a holding period of one year and $3 million in stock restricted for three years, the company said in a regulatory filing.

    The restricted shares are subject to early payment if Thain dies, becomes disabled, or CIT sells itself, it said.

    Apart from salary, Thain may get an incentive award from the board during 2010 capped at $1.5 million, which vests two years after being granted. That incentive award is subject to payout restrictions for another year after vesting.

    The company can take the incentive award back, if CIT determines that Thain has taken excessive and unnecessary risk, the filing says.

    Thain's base salary is high by Wall Street standards. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, for example, paid Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein a base of $600,000 for 2009, and Morgan Stanley's John Mack received $800,000 last year. JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon received $1 million.

    But Dimon and Blankfein received substantially higher bonuses in 2009 than Thain's target level.

    Thain, who takes over from CIT's interim CEO Peter Tobin, was hired partly for the expertise he gained restructuring the New York Stock Exchange.

    Thain's compensation is subject to federal regulations, including Troubled Asset Relief Program and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp regulations, CIT said.

    (Reporting by Dan Wilchins in New York, additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Gunna Dickson)