Avoiding the Compensation Limits in the Bailout Bill

The PNC acquisition of National City provides yet another means of avoiding the prohibition on golden parachute payments to executives in banks that get government bailout money.  The National City executives will get healthy golden parachutes because the bailout money went, not to National City, but to the bank that bought National City, PNC.  The mechanics of forcing banks to breach employment contracts with executives in order to qualify for bailout money has always been a huge question.  Avoidance of the prohibition (rather than confrontion of its problems) will be the order of the day.