Obama Drops Tough Plan on Bank Compensation

(The Wall Street Journal)The Obama administration is dropping its plan to cap salaries at firms receiving government bailout money, leaving them subject to congressionally imposed limits on bonuses, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move is likely to end months of confusion on Wall Street about separate pay directives from the White House and Congress.

The administration is expected to announce the compromise on Wednesday. In addition to standing behind the restrictions passed by Congress in February, the administration plans to push for broad changes in compensation practices across the financial-services industry, these people say.

It also will appoint a "pay czar" to monitor the firms receiving the most government aid. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to push all firms -- not just those receiving funds from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program -- to more closely tie incentive compensation to long-term performance by paying employees in restricted stock, rather than cash.

The expected announcement will come one day after the Treasury Department told 10 of the largest U.S. financial institutions that they may repay $68 billion in government-bailout cash. The announcement set the stage for giant banks like J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., securities firms Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley and the other approved companies to escape the grip of tight restrictions.

The pay provisions were a key motivator for some banks to repay the TARP money. The most restrictive portions of Congress's rules targeted senior executives and top earners at firms receiving more than $500 million in government funds, limiting bonuses to no more than a third of total annual compensation.(continue)

U.S. Envoy: No Intention to Invade North Korea

NEW YORK(foxnews) -- President Obama's special envoy on North Korea says the U.S. has no intention to invade the communist country or change its regime by force.

Stephen Bosworth told the Korea Society Tuesday night that this has been repeatedly made clear to North Korea. The envoy says North Korea's claim to be responding to a threat or hostile policy by the U.S. is "simply groundless."

Bosworth says "negotiations and dialogue are the best means to achieve the goal of complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

North Korea said Tuesday it would use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked -- its latest rhetoric apparently aimed at deterring any international punishment for its recent atomic test blast.

South Korea has informed the U.S. of up to 20 North Korean bank accounts suspected of being involved in counterfeiting, money laundering and other illegal transactions, a news report said Wednesday.

The move came as Washington considered punishing the North with its own financial sanctions apart from proposed U.N. sanctions. Seven key nations neared agreement on a new U.N. resolution that would toughen sanctions against North Korea for defying the Security Council and conducting a second nuclear test.

South Korea gave the U.S. the information on some 10 to 20 North Korean bank accounts in China and Switzerland at Washington's request, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported, citing an unidentified government official.

Separately, South Korea's Finance Ministry has imposed sanctions on three North Korean companies for helping the country's April 5 long-range rocket test. The move was largely symbolic because the firms don't do business with South Korea.

The North has long been accused of being involved in the counterfeiting of US$100 bills and money laundering -- accusations Pyongyang has denied.

In 2005, the U.S. imposed financial restrictions Banco Delta Asia, a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau, over allegations of money laundering and other financial crimes involving North Korea. The move effectively cut the North off from the global financial system.

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac said Tuesday that the Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution on North Korea within a couple of days, the South's Yonhap news agency reported.

Wi arrived late Tuesday in Beijing for talks with top Chinese officials on the North's nuclear stance, noting China's "special relationship" with Pyongyang.

Apple's Jobs ready to return from leave: report

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs is on track to return to the company from his medical leave of absence as planned, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person who had seen Jobs in recent weeks.

The report that Jobs will return by the end of the month comes ahead of Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco on Monday, an event at which Jobs unveiled Apple's 3G iPhone a year ago but had not been expected to attend this time.

Jobs, 54, had said his medical leave would run until the end of June when he initially announced the move in January, setting the stage for a July return. Company representatives had said repeatedly he remained involved in strategic decisions and would return as scheduled.

Apple's spokesman did not return calls for comment.

Some analysts and investors feared that Jobs, a survivor of pancreatic cancer, might not return if his health problems did not improve.

Jobs was treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer in 2004. He appeared gaunt at an Apple event last June and in January said he would take a leave of absence because his health problems were "more complex" than originally thought.

The Apple CEO's recovery "is coming along," the Journal reported.

The report also said two people who do business with Apple have been told by Apple managers that the company is trying to coordinate Jobs' return with a product launch or public event.

Jobs, a college dropout, co-founded Apple in 1976 in a Silicon Valley garage. After a falling-out with the board, he left the company in 1985.

Apple floundered, setting the scene for his return in 1997. The company has flourished under Jobs 2.0, rolling out the concept of a computer as a 'digital hub' along with the iPod and iPhone.