Brussels, 04/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - By the end of the year, the European Commission will unveil new legislation to make it compulsory for companies quoted on the stock exchange to organise a vote of shareholders on its pay policy.
Stefaan De Rynck, a spokesperson for EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said the Commission had gone ahead without waiting for the Swiss referendum because the December action plan on updating corporate governance announced EU legislation before the end of the year to make it compulsory for shareholders to have a say on pay and for greater transparency on the remuneration of individual managers.
Stefaan De Rynck said the outcome of the Swiss referendum on pay was extremely positive. The Swiss voted strongly in favour of restricting the pay of big companies based in Switzerland. De Rynck said it was very positive that the momentum existed to be able to introduce better regulations and greater transparency and he hoped other legal systems would follow suit and demand pay that reflected companies' long-term performance.
In the referendum, 68% of the Swiss voted in favour of an initiative by Senator Minder to prevent the heads of Swiss companies quoted on the stock exchange in Switzerland or elsewhere from receiving massive pay packages and, in certain circumstances, golden parachutes. The referendum took place in all Swiss cantons and the federal government will now introduce draft legislation, which can be a long process, explain critics of the referendum.
CRD IV. The draft CRD IV legislation introducing new bank solvency and liquidity requirements, includes rules restricting bankers' bonuses (see EUROPE 10796). De Rynck said all aspects of a new deal for banks were on the negotiating table. European finance ministers will be asked on Tuesday to endorse the deal reached last week by representatives of the European Parliament and Irish Presidency. (MB/transl.fl)