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BAYOU LA BATRE, Alabama (Reuters) - The man who acquired a solid gold reputation for fixing sticky situations for the U.S. government is facing one of his toughest challenges yet: running BP Plc's $20 billion compensation fund. Kenneth Feinberg, lawyer extraordinaire, was in charge of compensating victims' families after the September 11, 2001 attacks and presided over executive pay at bailed-out Wall Street firms. But the job President Barack Obama has asked him to do -- deciding who will be compensated from BP's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- is placing Feinberg in hostile territory where residents...

***ALERT*** President Obama says the $20 billion BP has committed to is not a "cap." "BP will meet their obligations" to the people of the gulf, he said. "Another important element is that this $20 billion fund will not be controlled by BP or the government." Obama said the escrow account will be executed by an impartial third party. Ken Feinberg will run the BP escrow account. UPDATE (@ 3:34:19 PM ET): It should be noted that Ken Feinberg is not an "impartial" third party. He has previously worked for the Obama administration in the Treasury department. His job was...

In a London preview of Wall Street's bonus nightmare, more than 1,000 investment bankers have quit Royal Bank of Scotland to work at rivals due to curbs on their paychecks, according to people familiar with the situation. Wall Street banks fear top talent would flee en masse for greener pastures if Uncle Sam's pay czar, Ken Feinberg, and Congress try to put more ceilings on bonuses and pay at financial firms. In the UK, the rules are modeled after US actions to curb pay at firms bailed out by the government.RBS will soon be about 84-percent owned by the British...