Ocwen Financial Corp., the Atlanta loan servicing company, is paying its new chief financial officer to move to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Michael R. Bourque, Jr., 36, was previously the CFO of GE Distributed Power, a business of GE Power & Water. He will receive a $100,000 cash bonus to relocate to St. Croix, where Ocwen has operations.
“I scratch my head a little bit,” said Eric Marquardt, a partner at Pay Governance. “It’s surprising to me.”
Bourque will receive a $400,000 salary, is eligible for a $400,000 bonus and will get 10,000 restricted shares of company stock in addition to his relocation bonus, according to an Ocwen filing. Marquardt said it is no longer common for companies to make exceptions for relocation expenses — “I don’t know why he would be located anywhere other than corporate headquarters,” he said.
An Ocwen spokesman, Rick Gillespie, said in a message that it makes sense for “certain Ocwen executives, certain operations and activities, to be based in St. Croix.” That is the case for Bourque, he said. Ocwen Mortgage Servicing is headquartered there, among other businesses.
“We do obviously still have significant operations in Atlanta and we still remain committed to our headquarters,” he said.
Ocwen has been the subject of several lawsuits, and the superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services announced on Twitter Wednesday his plans to investigate reports of a so-called gag rule that would prevent homeowners Ocwen has negotiated mortgage settlements with from saying anything negative about the company.
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