Enron And Executive Bonuses

The New York Times reports that Enron executives were paid large one-time only cash bonuses last year at the same time that senior officials were allegedly improperly inflating the failed energy giant's profitability.

The company are believed to have paid over bonus and special cash allocations totalling some $320m less than a year before Enron's collapse. Monies became payable under the schemes at certain share price and profitabilty levels.

The company have defended the payment schemes on the basis that they are common forms of remuneration at other major corporates. Critics believe that such schemes act as a strong incentive to executives to bury bad news that is likely to effect the share price and engage in questionable accounting practices that could inflate profitability.