Wells Fargo & Co has halted its bonus program for a handful of top executives, the bank said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

The Wells Fargo board's human resources committee made the decision to suspend the cash payouts on Tuesday, and it is applying the suspension retroactively to Jan 1, 2009, the San Francisco-based bank said.

The committee agreed, however, to pay restricted share rights to Atkins, Hoyt and Oman, equivalent to one-third of their total compensation in 2008. These shares vest in three installments between July 2012 and 2014.

The committee also raised Atkins and Hoyt's salaries to $700,000 from $600,000.

Stumpf had already said he would not receive a bonus when he spoke along with seven other bank executives called before the U.S. Congress earlier this month to answer questions on how banks have used billions of dollars in government bailout money.

Bank executives have come under fire from lawmakers over bonuses, corporate jets and other perks.

Earlier this month, Wells Fargo canceled an employee event in Las Vegas after the Associated Press said the bank had booked two of the city's more upscale hotels.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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