U.S.A. will curb ranks of GM execs eligible for top pay

PHOENIX (Reuters) -- The U.S. pay czar will reduce the number of top General Motors Co executives who will receive base salaries of more than $500,000 this year.The czar, Kenneth Feinberg, said he plans to release the 2010 compensation decisions next week on the five large U.S. companies that are under pay restrictions as part of their government bailouts.The rules restrict the top 25 executives from receiving more than $500,000 in base cash salary unless a company can prove a good reason for the higher pay.GM is more than 60 percent owned by the U.S. Treasury after a government-funded bankruptcy and reorganization in 2009. The U.S. government also holds a small stake in Chrysler Group, which is under management control of Italy's Fiat S.p.A."In General Motors, there will be some people that the company has convinced me should be receiving compensation in excess of $500,000 in base cash salary, there will be some of them," Feinberg told reporters on the sidelines of a Society of American Business Editors and Writers conference.However, Feinberg also said that the number would be much lower than the 14 GM executives who received base salaries in excess of $500,000 in 2009."This year we have cut back," Feinberg said.