I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1575 

To authorize the Attorney General to limit or recover excessive compensation 

paid or payable by entities that have received Federal financial assistance 

on or after September 1, 2008. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2009 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. PIERLUISI, Ms. FUDGE, and 

Mr. TONKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the Attorney General to limit or recover excessive compensation paid or payable by entities that have 

received Federal financial assistance on or after September 1, 2008. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘End Government Re5 imbursement of Excessive Executive Disbursements (End 

6 GREED) Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY. 

2 Congress hereby elects to use its authority under arti3 cle I, section 8, clause 4, and article I, section 8, clause 

4 18, of the Constitution— 

5 (1) to establish a uniform law on bankruptcy 

6 that applies to entities that have received extraor7 dinary financial assistance from the United States 

8 on or after September 1, 2008, and 

9 (2) to authorize the Attorney General of the 

10 United States (hereinafter in this Act referred to as 

11 the Attorney General), after consultation with the 

12 Secretary of the Treasury (hereinafter in this Act 

13 referred to as the Secretary)— 

14 (A) to seek recovery of previous excessive 

15 payments of compensation made by such enti16 ties after receiving such assistance, and 

17 (B) to limit excessive payments of com18 pensation to be made by such entities. 

19 SEC. 3. RECOVERY OF EXCESSIVE COMPENSATION. 

20 (a) REVIEW OF CONTRACTS AND PAYMENTS.—The 

21 Attorney General, after consultation with the Secretary, 

22 on behalf of the Government may review any employment 

23 contract made by a recipient entity, and any payment 

24 made on or after September 1, 2008, by a recipient entity 

25 to an employee. 


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1 (b) CIVIL ACTION FOR FRAUDULENT TRANSFER.— 

2 The Attorney General may commence a civil action in an 

3 appropriate district court of the United States to avoid 

4 any payment made by a recipient entity to an employee 

5 (including a payment under an employment contract) that 

6 was made on or after September 1, 2008, if such entity 

7 received less than a reasonably equivalent value in ex8 change for such payment and such entity— 

9 (1) was insolvent on the date that such pay10 ment was made, not taking into account any— 

11 (A) line of credit, 

12 (B) loan, or 

13 (C) payment in exchange for stock of such 

14 entity, 

15 received by such entity from the United States on or 

16 after September 1, 2008, or 

17 (2) was engaged in business or a transaction, or 

18 was about to engage in business or a transaction, for 

19 which property remaining in the recipient entity was 

20 an unreasonably small capital. 

21 For purposes of this subsection, the Attorney General may 

22 avoid any transfer of an interest of a recipient entity in 

23 property, or any obligation incurred by such entity, that 

24 is avoidable under applicable law by a creditor holding an 

25 unsecured claim against such entity. 


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1 (c) CIVIL ACTION TO AVOID CONTRACTUAL OBLIGA2 TIONS TO PAY EXCESSIVE COMPENSATION.—The Attor3 ney General may commence a civil action in an appro4 priate district court of the United States to limit the 

5 amount of the compensation paid or payable on or after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act by a recipient entity 

7 under an employment contract if such compensation is 

8 greater than an amount equal to 10 times the amount of 

9 the mean amount of compensation paid or payable to non10 management employees of such entity for any purpose 

11 during the calendar year in which compensation was paid 

12 or payable by such entity. 

13 SEC. 4. SUBPOENA AUTHORITY. 

14 The Attorney General is authorized to issue a sub15 poena requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses 

16 and the production of documentary evidence relating to 

17 any matter relevant to the implementation of this Act, in18 cluding the circumstances surrounding any employment 

19 contract or payment of compensation, which subpoena, in 

20 the case of contumacy or refusal to obey, shall be enforce21 able by order of an appropriate district court of the United 

22 States. 

23 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

24 Other than limiting compensation paid or payable 

25 under employment contracts or providing for the recovery 


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1 of previously paid compensation, nothing in this Act shall 

2 be construed to have any impact on a recipient entity, its 

3 financial status, or the financial status of its creditors. 

4 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

5 For purposes of this Act— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘employment contract’’ means an 

7 employment contract that provides for the payment 

8 of compensation (including performance or incentive 

9 compensation, a bonus of any kind, or any other fi10 nancial return designed to replace or enhance incen11 tive, stock, or other compensation), and 

12 (2) the term ‘‘recipient entity’’ means a person 

13 (including any subsidiary of such person) that re14 ceives, during any period beginning on or after Sep15 tember 1, 2008, from the United States— 

16 (A) a line of credit or a loan, 

17 (B) a payment in exchange for stock of 

18 such person (or such subsidiary), or 

19 (C) any combination of credit, loans, or 

20 payments, 

21 that exceeds $10,000,000,000 in the aggregate. 

Æ 


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