Steak house to hungry bankers rescue
(9 February 2010 – USA) A New York steak house chain, Smith and Wollensky, are offering bankers the opportunity to trade their bonus shares for steak meals.
Under pressure from the US government, banks have paid many of their top executives' bonuses in stock rather than cash.
In a full page ad placed last week in the New York Times, the restaurant offers to trade steak meals for diners’ stock certificates.
The chain claims that they are trying to inject bankers’ bonuses into New York’s economy.
The ad expresses the local concerns that the effect of bankers now receiving their bonuses in stocks has on other New York businesses, including ‘personal assistants and pet psychiatrists’.
The ad also cheekily noted that ‘massive amounts of steak and lobster’ could remain uneaten due to the new bonus scheme brought in by some banks.
Alan Stillman, Smith and Wollensky founder, told Reuters that they don’t know if people will show up with stock certificates, but they are ready if they do. Mr Stillman also added that the reduction in cash bonuses hit his business hard last year.
Smith & Wollensky said it will accept certificates for any New York Stock Exchange- and Nasdaq-listed stock, including those of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, two banks whose top executives are receiving stock rather than cash bonuses this year.
However, the fine print for the promotion says prospective steak-eaters must present original stock certificates, which few people have in their possession anymore.
In a full page ad placed last week in the New York Times, the restaurant offers to trade steak meals for diners’ stock certificates.
The chain claims that they are trying to inject bankers’ bonuses into New York’s economy.
The ad expresses the local concerns that the effect of bankers now receiving their bonuses in stocks has on other New York businesses, including ‘personal assistants and pet psychiatrists’.
The ad also cheekily noted that ‘massive amounts of steak and lobster’ could remain uneaten due to the new bonus scheme brought in by some banks.
Alan Stillman, Smith and Wollensky founder, told Reuters that they don’t know if people will show up with stock certificates, but they are ready if they do. Mr Stillman also added that the reduction in cash bonuses hit his business hard last year.
Smith & Wollensky said it will accept certificates for any New York Stock Exchange- and Nasdaq-listed stock, including those of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, two banks whose top executives are receiving stock rather than cash bonuses this year.
However, the fine print for the promotion says prospective steak-eaters must present original stock certificates, which few people have in their possession anymore.
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