The Obama administration's pay czar said Wednesday his negotiations over executive compensation with the seven companies that received the biggest helpings from the federal bailout pot have been "a consensual process" and not a matter of forcing decisions on them.

"I'm hoping I won't be required to simply make a determination over company objections," veteran Washington attorney Kenneth Feinberg told the Chicago Bar Association in a speech delivered over a television link.

Feinberg said he hopes when he announces pay levels for 175 top executives by Oct. 30 the seven companies will consider them fair and based on principle.

"It's been a very consensual process and I hope it will continue to be consensual," Feinberg told the attorneys.

Feinberg, who is technically a special master at the Treasury Department, said he doesn't even agree with the informal title of pay czar, emphasizing that he is working with the companies and not dictating to them.

He said the pay levels need to allow the companies to be competitive, be performance based and keep executives in their jobs for the long haul.