Compensation for the boards of directors of the nation’s biggest banks continues to rise

Excerpt from the NY Times: "Some Wall Street insiders also question the need to pay bank directors more than their counterparts at other big corporations, arguing that the increased regulation has actually limited bank boards’ ability to perform important tasks, like raising capital and issuing dividends. Even when it comes to paying senior executives, boards have less leeway because regulators have pressured boards to bring down executive pay.

“About the only thing bank directors have more of these days is meetings,” joked one senior Wall Street executive who has frequent interaction with his board but spoke on the condition he not be named because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

“Regulators have all but stripped boards of the main powers they had before the crisis.”

[Obviously, they weren't stripped of their ability to raise their own pay.]