COMPENSATION

MEMO CONTRADICTS BELIEF NYSE WAS INFORMED OF GRASSO PAY A 2003 memo from a top aide to H. Carl McCall, a former member of the New York Stock Exchange board, contradicts the long held claim that the NYSE board was fully informed of Richard Grasso’s contested $187.5 million compensation, according to the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer.

The memo recounts Mr. McCall saying the full board was “shocked” to learn in September 2003 that the compensation package was actually $40 million more than was announced in a press release and included in a signed contract a month earlier because of additional “accruals over the next four years.”

Mr. Spitzer’s deposition last week of Linda Scott, the longtime assistant to the former New York State comptroller, Mr. McCall, led to the court-ordered release on Wednesday of the 2003 memo.

– Associated Press

PHARMACEUTICALS

PFIZER SHAREHOLDERS IGNORE CALLS TO PROTEST CEO PAY PACKAGE

Shareholders of pharmaceutical company Pfizer rejected a call yesterday to oust some members of the company’s board for approving a deal to pay its chief executive officer as much as $83 million when he retires. Two proxy advising companies had called for removal of board members and the AFL-CIO led a protest against the retirement package. No board member received less than 78% of the vote for retention.

– Associated Press

FINANCIAL SERVICES

CIT GROUP OPENS NEW FIFTH AVENUE HEADQUARTERS The chairman and chief executive of CIT Group, Jeffrey Peek, opened a new global company headquarters at 505 Fifth Ave. yesterday. At the opening, attended by Mayor Bloomberg, Mr. Peek also announced a $10 million commitment over the next four years to the city’s civic and cultural institutions.

“The unveiling of the CIT building at 505 Fifth Ave. is an important milestone in CIT’s nearly 100-year history,” Mr. Peek, whose runs the commercial and consumer finance company with more than 6,000 employees, said in a statement. “We are committed to New York City and our presence at 505 Fifth Ave. reflects our desire to continue to serve as a responsible corporate citizen.”

The ceremony marked the official move of the company headquarters to the city from its other office in Livingston, N.J.

The company’s philanthropic donation will be used to support such programs as the American Museum of Natural History’s “Cosmic Collisions” show, the New York Philharmonic’s free concerts in the park series, the New York City Opera’s Opera-for-All program, the New York City Ballet’s Spring Gala, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and others.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

INTEREST RATES

CHINA RATE MOVE TESTS WORLD MARKETS The boom in the world’s financial markets has been tested by a surprise rise in Chinese interest rates, which sent prices of many assets sharply lower. A major sell-off yesterday was only avoided by strong hints from the Federal Reserve that a long series of rate increases in America may soon come to an end. Equity and commodity markets were briefly sent tumbling after the People’s Bank of China raised interest rates for the first time in 18 months, in an attempt to cool down its simmering economy. Beijing, which recently warned the country may not be able to sustain its breakneck growth, raised its benchmark one-year lending rate from 5.58% to 5.85%.

– The Daily Telegraph

EARNINGS

MICROSOFT SAYS THIRD-QUARTER PROFIT IS UP 16% Microsoft said thirdquarter profit rose 16% on orders for database programs. Revenue trailed some analysts’ estimates. Net income jumped to $3 billion, or 29 cents a share, from $2.56 billion, or 23 cents, a year earlier. Sales in the quarter ended March 31 rose 13 percent to $10.9 billion.

– Bloomberg News

EXXON REPORTS 7% RISE IN NET INCOME Exxon Mobil Corporation reported a 7% rise in first-quarter net income yesterday, buoyed by higher commodity prices and production, but the results still fell well short of Wall Street forecasts.

– Dow Jones Newswires

JOB MARKET

BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE ADVERTISES FOR FIRST TIME EVER MI6, the British intelligence service made famous by the James Bond films, is advertising in newspapers for the first time in its 97-year history, in order to recruit more spies, administrative employees, and linguists.

The Secret Intelligence Service, as the agency is officially called, introduced a Web site in October to enhance public knowledge of the SIS and to boost recruitment. The advertisement is intended to broaden the hiring initiative, appealing both to those who may want a career change and to new graduates.

The advert, which appeared yesterday in the London-based Times newspaper, asks for administrative and technology workers, linguists and operational officers, and analysts.

– Bloomberg News

IN BRIEF

Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for the fifth consecutive week, hitting their highest level in nearly four years, a nationwide survey of rates reported yesterday … The Bush administration appointed James Lockhart, deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration, to head the agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac … A silver-backed fund created by Barclays was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday and the shares will begin trading today on the American Stock Exchange.

– Bloomberg News and Associated Press