France To Curb Bonuses As Public Outrage Grows

On Thursday, striking French port workers pressured top executives at GdF Suez to give up their stock options.

Terminal workers from the powerful CGT union called the strike to protest the payout of 1.13 million stock options, disrupting activity at the company's two liquefied natural gas terminals in France.

GdF Suez said in a statement later Thursday that the executives — Chairman Gerard Mestrallet and Vice Chairman Jean-Francois Cirelli — had decided to give up the stock options granted in 2008 "out of concern for responsibility."

Earlier this week, four top executives at French bank Societe Generale, which took government bailout funds, gave up tens of thousands of stock options.

In the United States, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said 15 of the top 20 bonus recipients at AIG agreed to return their money.

The French government is also opposing the euro3.2 million ($4.3 million) exit bonus paid to Thierry Morin, the former head of auto parts maker Valeo SA. The state owns 8 percent of Valeo, which also received state aid.