Companies in the United States that benefited from billions in government aid during the global financial crisis are being ordered to cut the pay of some of their top executives.
The White House move follows widespread outrage over the high level of bonus packages being paid by companies, the BBC reports.
The seven companies that received the most aid from the US Treasury will have to reduce the basic salaries of their 25 best-paid employees by up to 90%.
The companies affected would be Bank of America, American International Group (AIG), Citigroup, General Motors, GMAC, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial.
They have reportedly been singled out by the White House because they have not yet paid back billions of dollars in federal stimulus money given to them by the government and were still paying their executives large salaries and bonuses.
The US is expected to announce the salary cuts for top executives within the next few days.
Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury official appointed to handle compensation issues as part of the $US700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Programme, will be in charge of the negotiations on salaries with each of the companies.
Bank reform needed, says British governor
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King is warning of further international financial crises unless banks reform the way they operate.
Mr King says there is danger that banks will again take excessive financial risks because they believe themselves to be too important to fail.
He says the billions of dollars paid by taxpayers to support failing banks in the past year have been matched by little real reform.
Mr King called for retail and investment banks to be separated to avoid another financial crisis. But British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says more regulation is the key to financial stability.
