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The Treasury Department will announce as early as today that it is slashing the pay of the top executives at seven companies, including General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, that received government bailouts.

In June, the Treasury Department imposed a number of restrictions on automakers and financial institutions that took government loans under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. But Citigroup, Bank of America and the American International Group expected to see their pay and benefits cut much greater than the automakers', government officials said.

The Treasury Department's special master, Kenneth Feinberg, has been reviewing the compensation of the highest paid executives at the TARP recipient companies.

The New York Times reported that the seven companies that received the most assistance "will have to cut the cash payouts to their 25 best-paid executives by an average of about 90 percent from last year. For many of the executives, the cash they would have received will be replaced by stock that they will be restricted from selling immediately."

And for all executives, the total compensation, which includes bonuses, will drop on average by about 50 percent, The Times said. A government official said the Treasury Department didn't dispute the report.

Total compensation for the top executives at the seven firms will decline, on average, by about 50 percent, the Associated Press also reported, attributing the information to a person familiar with the administration's decision.

At the financial products division of AIG, the giant insurance company which has received taxpayer assistance valued at more than $180 billion, no top executive will receive more than $200,000 in total compensation, said the AP source familiar with Feinberg's plan.