PNC Financial CEO Pay Falls 41 Percent In 2008

In February, Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial said its top five executives would receive 2008 bonuses valued at about $7 million, mostly in restricted stock, bucking a trend among bank executives to forego bonuses amid increased scrutiny over Wall Street paychecks.

The awards are about $1.4 million less than the bonuses paid out to the same executives in 2007, according to regulatory filings.

Rohr received an award of restricted stock valued at $3 million, according to Wednesday's proxy. In 2007, Rohr received a bonus of $3.5 million, the majority of which was in cash.

According to the proxy, "awarding bonuses for 2008 was reasonable and advisable, particularly in light of our strong relative performance and management's avoidance of many of the poor decisions and business strategies that have weakened many financial institutions and have caused others to fail or be acquired."

Taxpayers have become critical of executive compensation amid reports that bonuses have been doled out to employees of financial firms that got money from the government's $700 billion bailout fund. PNC Financial received a $7.6 billion investment from the government last fall.

For the full year, PNC Financial earned $882 million, or $2.46 per share, down from a profit of $1.47 billion, or $4.35 per share, in fiscal 2007.