FirstBank Puerto Rico top execs get significant pay raises
High-ranking FirstBank executives are getting a bump in their salaries.
Several high-ranking FirstBank executives are getting significant pay raises this year, through a combination of cash and stock, according to a filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission this week.
In the document, the bank informed the regulatory agency that President Aurelio Alemán will receive a $30,000 base salary raise, to $880,000 a year, plus another $100,000 increase in what he is paid through common stock ownership, pushing his total base salary up by 10 percent to $1,480,000.
Meanwhile, FirstBank’s chief financial officer Orlando Berges-González, will keep the same base salary paid in cash of $600,000, but will receive a $75,000 increase in what he’s paid in common stock, putting his total salary at $800,000 a year.
Calixto García-Vélez, executive vice president of FirstBank, who will receive a salary of $550,000 this year, plus $175,000 in paid common stock. His salary could not be compared to last year’s, as it was not disclosed in the SEC filing for 2013.
The pay raises were approved on Mar. 27 by First BanCorp’s board, which also granted adjustments in base salary in cash and what executives receive in common stock, which carries a par value of $0.10 per share. The shares will be issued on a biweekly basis, according to the bank’s pay cycle, the financial institution informed the SEC.
On that same date, the board approved grants of restricted stock to the executives, in keeping with the Troubled Asset Relief Program rules, particularly those related to the Capital Purchase Program.
“In light of the CPP-related restrictions, the corporation’s incentive program for [executives] is solely in the form of restricted stock, thereby aligning our executives’ compensation with the corporation’s long-term profitability,” the SEC filing stated.
“Consistent with the requirements of the CPP, the restricted stock issued will vest as follows: 50 percent of the shares on the second anniversary date of the grant and the remaining 50 percent on the third anniversary date of the grant. Notwithstanding the vesting, the [executives] will be restricted from transferring the shares pursuant to additional CPP-related restrictions as they relate to transferability of the shares.”
That said, Alemán received 140,952 shares of restricted stock worth $740,000; Berges-González, 76,190 shares worth $400,000; Lawrence Odell, executive vice president, general counsel and Secretary of the Board, 59,619 shares worth $313,000; García-Velez, 69,142 shares worth $363,000; and T. Michael McDonald, executive vice president, 41,904 shares worth $220,000.
