As we recently reported, 2017 is the year when most FTSE100 companies will be putting their new remuneration policies to a shareholders’ binding vote, against an increasingly hostile background of criticism of the size and complexity of directors’ pay packages. For the early starters in the FTSE100, there have already been casualties. Imperial Brands withdrew … Continue Reading
Before the 2017 AGM season gets into full swing seems an opportune time to look back at what happened in the executive pay sphere during 2016 and forward to the challenges that remuneration committees face this year.… Continue Reading
As trailed in our recent blog post, the green paper on the reform of corporate governance was published today by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly BIS). The paper sets out 14 questions for consultation. The consultation covers three main areas: executive pay, “which has grown much faster over the last two … Continue Reading
Tucked away right at the end of Prime Minister’s questions yesterday, immediately before the Autumn Statement, was a very short question: “Does the Prime Minister believe that big companies should put a worker on the board?” Given recent headlines such as “Theresa May backtracks on putting workers on company boards” (The Telegraph, 21 November) and … Continue Reading
The GC100 and Investor Group have recently published updated directors’ remuneration reporting guidance to reflect the changes in practice since their original guidance in 2013 and the voting patterns of the 2016 AGM season. The large majority of the FTSE100 will be putting new remuneration policies to a shareholder vote next year on the expiry … Continue Reading
Aside from the few companies with later year-ends, the last couple of AGMs of the FTSE 100 were held last week, so now would seem an opportune time to summarise the outcomes and trends from the 2016 season. One hallmark of the season was that it appeared to be a re-run of the “shareholder spring” … Continue Reading
After weeks of media headlines criticising FTSE 100 executive remuneration, the Investment Association have finally pulled their rabbit from the hat! The nattily entitled “Executive Remuneration Working Group” set up last year under the auspices of the Investment Association (see our previous blog post) has published its Interim Report (which can be downloaded from the … Continue Reading
Last year we covered the saga of Sports Direct’s 2015 Share Scheme through the vote to approve the scheme and the subsequent votes at the 2014 AGM. This story has refused to go away and resurfaced this week at the company’s 2015 AGM. There has been much press comment on the outcomes and reasons why … Continue Reading
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published a research paper on companies’ compliance with the new directors’ remuneration reporting regulations (DRRRs) in the 2014 AGM season. The research was carried out by Manifest, taking a random sample of 93 UK-incorporated companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Thirty-eight of these companies had … Continue Reading
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently released its first stand-alone UK and Ireland Proxy Voting Guidelines (previously, ISS and the NAPF issued guidelines through Research Recommendations and Electronic Voting, their joint venture which came to an end in June 2014). The guidelines apply to shareholder meetings held on or after 1 February 2015. In the area of … Continue Reading
On 18 December, the GC100 and Investor Group published an eagerly awaited update to its Guidance on DRRs. The update follows the GC100’s review of its original Guidance (which was released in September 2013) in light of the 2014 AGM season and recent developments, and notes that the update document should now be regarded as … Continue Reading
The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has re-issued its updated Corporate Governance Policy and Voting Guidelines, including its view of how remuneration should be dealt with. Unsurprisingly, changes have been made to the last set of guidelines issued in November 2013. The changes reflect experience over the first year of accounts published under the … Continue Reading
As all of the FTSE100 DRRs for the past season have now been released (see our blog post), we are in the midst of the final few FTSE100 AGMs. This past week has seen Smiths Group, BHP Billiton and BSkyB all hold their AGMs, with no contentious DRR votes to report. For completeness, the voting … Continue Reading
With the release of Associated British Foods’ Directors’ Remuneration Report on 4 November 2014, the final curtain has come down on the 2013-14 FTSE100 DRR season. Whilst we still await the AGMs (and therefore shareholders’ votes on the DRRs) of a handful of FTSE100 companies (namely Smiths Group, BHP Billiton, BSkyB, Wolseley and ABF itself), … Continue Reading
After an eventful 2014 AGM season, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has published its 2014 AGM Season Report in respect of the FTSE350. This second annual NAPF Report looks back at the AGM season just gone in advance of the update to the NAPF’s Corporate Governance Policy & Voting Guidelines. Commenting briefly on … Continue Reading
It’s summer for our readers in the Northern Hemisphere – so time for a seasonal break. After a very busy and interesting 8 months watching FTSE100s wrestle with their DRRs under the new UK regulations, it’s time for them and us to take a well-deserved break. The final AGMs of the March year-end FTSE100 companies … Continue Reading
As the schools break-up for the summer holidays and parents across the country are faced with the annual headache of how to entertain the kids until they return, the Remuneration Committee members of the FTSE100 companies that held AGMs last week will be enjoying the start of summer having received glowing results from shareholders. In … Continue Reading
Despite it being only a couple of weeks since the December year-end FTSE100 companies’ AGM season finished (details on the results at that point were contained in our previous blog post), we have now begun the March year-end FTSE100 companies’ AGMs. Week one saw three FTSE100 companies hold their AGMs, with one of them resulting in our … Continue Reading
Without any FTSE100 companies’ DRRs being published or AGMs being held last week, interest in UK executive compensation activity came from a couple of other notable events. The World Cup, Wimbledon, the Tour de France, the British Grand Prix – and the approval of Mike Ashley’s incentive plan! – were all important sporting events taking … Continue Reading
Last week saw the last three AGMs of 31 December year-end FTSE100 companies take place, namely for Coca-Cola HBC, RBS and WPP (and all received at least 80% shareholder approval for both parts of the DRR). There was one other AGM (Tesco, which has a February year-end), and two DRRs were released (by SABMiller and … Continue Reading
As the eyes of the world turned to Brazil, the pace of DRR and AGM activity for FTSE100 companies slowed. The 2014 FIFA World Cup has got underway (despite local and international protests and corruption allegations), and we find ourselves approaching the end of the current season of FTSE100 DRRs and AGMs. As noted in … Continue Reading
Last week, the March year-end companies began publishing their DRRs, meaning it was the busiest week in a while for those involved in the world of executive compensation. The eight FTSE100 companies which published their DRRs in the week commencing 2 June 2014 were: British Land Company Burberry Experian J Sainsbury Marks & Spencer Group … Continue Reading
In the week that Vince Cable wrote to remuneration committees to urge them to “seize the opportunity to bring pay in line with performance” (see our blog post for details), a few FTSE100 companies were also encouraged by their shareholders to think carefully about pay packages that have been awarded. Those companies will also now need … Continue Reading
Pearson has followed in the footsteps of Aberdeen Asset Management, Compass, Imperial Tobacco and TUI Travel, and has become the fifth FTSE 100 company to release a statement to clarify certain aspects of the remuneration policy after the publication of its DRR. What next? The full details of Pearson’s addendum are below. In short, the … Continue Reading
