Wells Fargo, the US bank, has announced that its chief executive and three other senior executives will not be paid cash bonuses for 2009, and will be paid “retention performance shares” instead.

The bank – one of many to have received US bailout cash from the taxpayer – said the shares will vest after three years of service only if the company meets specified performance goals, and are subsequently covered by Wells Fargo’s long-standing policy that a portion of all shares earned by executives as compensation must be held for as long as they remain employed by the company, the bank said in a statement.

The board approved retention performance shares for:

John Stumpf, CEO, of a target of 379,600 shares, having a current value of approximately $10 million; Howard Atkins, a senior executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Company; Dave Hoyt, a senior executive vice president and head of Wholesale Banking; and Mark Oman, a senior executive vice president and head of Wells Fargo Home and Consumer Finance, of a target of 189,800 shares, having a current value of approximately $5 million.

“We believe we have the very best leadership team in financial services today and a key to retaining that talent for the long-term is to compensate our senior leaders competitively and to align their interests with those of our shareholders,” said Steve Sanger, chair of the board’s human resources committee and retired chairman and CEO of General Mills.