Stories that make people anti-bank

It's really hard to read something like this and have a great deal of sympathy for Bank CEO's:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Washington Mutual Chief Executive Alan Fishman could walk away with more than $18 million in salary, bonuses and severance after less than three weeks on the job, according to the terms of his employment agreement.

Fishman had a base annual salary of $1 million, which translates to $19,230 per week. So during his three weeks on the job, he would receive a base pay of about $60,000 before taxes.

His target annual bonus was 365% of his salary, or $3.65 million. In the agreement, it was unclear how much of the annual bonus he would be eligible for, if any.

The agreement said that Fishman could be eligible in 2009 for a long-term incentive award, which would be worth at least $8 million. But the agreement also said this is based on the assumption that would serve as CEO for the "full year" of 2009.

Also, if Fishman has to pay taxes because of any severance he receives as a result of the takeover, then the company would cover those taxes. That would potentially give Fishman millions of dollars more.

Fishman also got a multi-million dollar sign-on bonus. But he may have to pay it back, depending on certain conditions outlined in the agreement.

Fishman's sign-on cash bonus was $7.5 million as well as 612,500 shares of WaMu, which are now virtually worthless. Shares of WaMu plunged more than 90% to 16 cents a share on Friday.

The agreement says that Fishman would have to pay back part or all of his bonus if he ends his employment for any reason other than "constructive termination," or if the company terminates his employment with "cause."

If Fishman is terminated without "cause" - which could mean the loss of a job due to a takeover of the firm - or if he resigns because of "constructive termination," than he would receive a lump severance payment of $6.15 million. This figure is 2.5 times his base salary of $1 million plus the maximum bonus of $3.65 million.

Now you see how the term "golden parachute" was created...