S&P 500 constituent Monsanto Company yesterday became one of the first US companies to hold its AGM following the introduction of the new US rules requiring an advisory vote on the remuneration of the directors and an advisory vote on the frequency of such a vote. Shareholders did not follow the management recommendation on the […]

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The Swiss Council of States (the upper house of the Swiss Federal Assembly) has discussed an amendment to Swiss company law in an attempt to encourage Thomas Minder to withdraw his proposed referendum to insert provisions on directors pay into the Swiss Constitution. The Council of States has argued that regulations on the remuneration of […]

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A consultation paper has been published by the Irish Stock Exchange in which it proposes the introduction of an Irish Corporate Governance Code, a draft copy of which has been published. The proposed Code supplements the existing Combined Code (being renamed the UK Corporate Governance Code) with some of the key recommendations of the report […]

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London Stock Exchange this week announced a consultation on the AIM Rules a which is open until 15 January 2010. The proposals will see all AIM companies obliged to disclose details of directors’ remuneration on an individual basis, as the rules catch up with the actual practice of most leading AIM companies. The UK Companies […]

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The 2009 update to the ABI Guidelines on Executive Remuneration will be a disappointment to many investors. The amended guidelines fail to deal with some of the key structural deficiencies in executive pay practice and guidance – a contributory factor to the downturn – although the ABI has inserted 53 words to emphasis the need […]

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The ASX Corporate Governance Council has released a communiqué on its recent work programme and it proposal to make changes to the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations (‘the ASX Code’) with an expected implementation date from 1 July 2010. Following the publication of the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC) earlier in 2009 of […]

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The European Commission has this week launched a consultation, in the form of a green paper, in preparation for taking measures to enhance corporate governance in financial institutions and remuneration policies. It is significant that the Commission is keen to avoid killing the spirit of what it is trying to achieve by smothering it with […]

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The Manifest/MM&K Total Remuneration Survey 2009 was published this week. Here is the press coverage it has received so far: Bloomberg: Chief executive officers at Britain’s leading 100 companies received pay increases last year even as the FTSE 100 Index fell the most on record and may be handed more this year after the stock […]

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The preliminary proxy statement filed by Verizon Communications ahead of their AGM on 6 May has revealed that the former President and Chief Operating Officer, Dennis Strigl, who retired from the company effective 31 December 2009, will receive a separation payment of some $18.5m, to be paid in July 2010. The origin of the payment […]

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Australian  Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, Chris Bowen has delighted Australian shareholders with plans to introduce extensive executive remuneration reforms designed to force boards to be more accountable and give shareholders more power. In a ringing endorsement of the Productivity Commission’s review of executive pay which was published in January this year, […]

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