Theo Francis,Businessweek
Don’t say they didn’t warn you.Barack Obama sponsored it when he was a senator. He campaigned on it,and voiced support for it after winning the presidency. Government officials said it was coming,more than once. And today,the Treasury released draft legislation for a “say on pay” measure,as well as legislation that would seek to make corporate compensation committees more independent.
Executive and corporate groups aren’t all that happy — they worry ordinary shareholders may get confused by lengthy pay disclosures and vote unwisely,or that pressure from activist shareholders will force boards to make bad pay decisions that hurt their companies in the long run.
But these days,they’re somewhat subdued in their objections.
Chalk it up to the sheer scope of the turmoil in the government-corporate relationship,says Tim Bartl,senior vice-president of the Center on Executive Compensation,founded and funded by human-resources executives (the folks who typically handle executive pay in a company). “There are some monumental changes in regulatory structure,and this is obviously being sandwiched in with some much larger changes,”he says.
Theo Francis,Businessweek
Media still goo goo for Obama,Business is not
Don’t say they didn’t warn you.Barack Obama sponsored it when he was a senator. He campaigned on it,and voiced support for it after winning the presidency. Government officials said it was coming,more than once. And today,the Treasury released draft legislation for a “say on pay” measure,as well as legislation that would seek to make corporate compensation committees more independent.
Executive and corporate groups aren’t all that happy — they worry ordinary shareholders may get confused by lengthy pay disclosures and vote unwisely,or that pressure from activist shareholders will force boards to make bad pay decisions that hurt their companies in the long run.
But these days,they’re somewhat subdued in their objections.
Chalk it up to the sheer scope of the turmoil in the government-corporate relationship,says Tim Bartl,senior vice-president of the Center on Executive Compensation,founded and funded by human-resources executives (the folks who typically handle executive pay in a company). “There are some monumental changes in regulatory structure,and this is obviously being sandwiched in with some much larger changes,”he says.