Equifax CEO Compensation Falls 12 Percent

By DAVID PITT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The total compensation package for the chairman and chief executive of Equifax Inc. fell nearly 12 percent in 2008 from the year before to about $7.2 million, according to a regulatory filing.

Richard F. Smith, 49, was awarded a base salary of $1.5 million, an 8.7 percent increase over 2007. Smith also received a $582,000 bonus and a performance-related award of $1.2 million, which was about 17 percent less than the award a year ago.

The credit report service company's board cited Smith's "decisive leadership in an extraordinarily difficult economic environment" as justification for the awards. The company achieved above-market financial results in a difficult operating environment, the board said in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Also cited were Smith's actions to cut costs and push new product initiatives.

Smith also received stock and option awards that were valued by the company at $3.9 million on the day they were granted. That amount was about 17 percent lower than the 2007 amount.

His other compensation totaled nearly $78,000, which included $12,000 for financial planning and tax services, nearly $4,000 for club dues, $1,400 for home security monitoring and $19,000 for insurance premiums.