“John S. Reed, the interim chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, spent much of yesterday poring over the details of the compensation arrangements of the exchange’s executives to make sure the extent of their pay is disclosed correctly,” writes Landon Thomas in today’s New York Times.

“The careful deliberations by Mr. Reed before publicizing the accumulated pay and benefits of two deputies of Richard A. Grasso, Mr. Reed’s predecessor as chairman, underscore how delicate the issue of compensation remains after Mr. Grasso’s resignation.”

“The deputies are Catherine R. Kinney and Robert G. Britz. Mr. Reed has indicated for a week that the disclosure is coming, and has acknowledged that there will be criticism of their packages, so he may be evaluating an appropriate response to that as well.”

“The exchange is expected to disclose the pay of Mr. Britz and Ms. Kinney, co-presidents, and of several other executives’ today.”

“Meanwhile, the search committee charged with finding a permanent chairman and chief executive for the exchange will meet today and is expected to select an executive search firm to lead the process. The committee is chaired by Laurence D. Fink, the chief executive of Blackrock, an investment firm based in New York. Heidrick & Struggles, Russell Reynolds and Spencer Stuart are among the firms that have made presentations to the board.”

“In another development, Herbert M. Allison Jr., the chief executive of TIAA-CREF, was named the chairman of the board’s compensation committee, succeeding H. Carl McCall, who resigned from the board last month.”

“Stock exchange officials said yesterday that Mr. Reed was determined to disclose the pay packages of the top executives but that he wanted to take extra time to see that the final numbers were correct and conclusive.”

“At a meeting with stock exchange members on Tuesday, according to someone in attendance, Mr. Reed said that he also wanted to give Mr. Britz and Ms. Kinney time to prepare their families for the firestorm that would surely ensue.”

“The annual pay of Mr. Britz and Ms. Kinney has already been disclosed. They each received bonuses and salaries that exceeded $2 million in 2002 and 2001, according to documents submitted to regulators. Their accumulated packages, including deferred savings and retirement benefits are said to approach $30 million for each, reflecting their decades of service.”

“The accumulated packages of other exchange officials are considerably smaller, said one director yesterday, ranging from $1 million to just under $10 million.”