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
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
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
The UK Financial Reporting Council (the FRC) has just published a report entitled “Corporate Culture and the Role of Boards”. This is the result of a mammoth project kicked off in early 2015 by a round-table with FTSE100 chairmen. Content for the report was produced by a survey of 44 chairmen and 33 company secretaries … 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
Admittedly, it is still early days to asses what’s new in FTSE DRRs for the 2015 accounting period. Even so, it looks like this will be a slow year for developments in DRRs for medium and large listed companies. Of course, that’s probably not surprising. For a company to change its policy requires putting the … Continue Reading
At the beginning of the 2016 AGM season, there has been a 25.3% vote against Thomas Cook’s directors’ remuneration report. In its announcement, the company said “We have already engaged with certain shareholders to discuss their concerns, which relate to the timing of disclosure of EPS targets in respect of the long-term incentive plan and … Continue Reading
Over 70 FTSE100 companies have now released their DRRs and we are well into the 2015 AGM season. So far, most FTSE100 companies are coming through the AGM season unscathed. In respect of the implementation report (this is the aspect of the directors’ remuneration report that describes how the remuneration committee implemented the company’s approved … 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
The past couple of weeks has seen numerous FTSE100 companies publishing their DRRs and executive remuneration has started to hit the headlines again. Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden was the centre of attention last week with the value of his pension payments and a tax equalisation payment due to his relocation to the UK contributing … Continue Reading
In the last couple of weeks the first few FTSE100 AGMs have been held. Imperial Tobacco, Aberdeen Asset Management and Compass Group all received votes in favour of more than 90% for their implementation reports. As mentioned in our previous blog post, Aberdeen Asset Management is proving to be the exception by sticking with last … Continue Reading
Compass Group and Imperial Tobacco published their DRRs last week, giving their shareholders something to read over the festive period. Both companies are putting their policy reports up to a vote again at their AGMs on 5 February and 28 January respectively, due to amending their policies slightly. The notion that most policies will only … Continue Reading
Last week, the final FTSE100 AGM of the first season under the new UK DRR rules was held – and the first two DRRs to be published as part of the second season were released. And so the cycle begins again… AGM The last FTSE100 AGM of the previous season to be held was that … Continue Reading
BG Group has responded to the numerous reports and opinions that have surrounded its proposed remuneration package to the new CEO, Helge Lund. Less than 24 hours after our blog post which summarised the concerns, BG Group’s announcement, dated 1 December 2014, sets out revisions to the remuneration package and is stated to follow “extensive … Continue Reading
Last Tuesday, the penultimate FTSE100 AGM of the 2013/14 DRR season was held. Wolseley was untroubled and received votes in favour of 93.6% for its policy report and 98.4% for its implementation report. There is now only one FTSE100 AGM left; Associated British Foods’ AGM will be held this Friday (5 December). Results of all … 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
The topic of directors’ remuneration is coming back onto the horizon for one last time this season following a quiet month. During the last fortnight DRRs were published, AGMs were held and the IMA updated its Principles of Remuneration. So, with just one DRR yet to be published and four UK AGMs still to be … Continue Reading
Following the first week of any notable activity in the world of FTSE100 DRRs and AGMs for a while (see our previous blog post), last week saw another couple of FTSE100 30 June year-end companies release their DRRs. After a quiet summer, it appears that the world of executive remuneration is slowly but surely getting … Continue Reading
The world of executive remuneration enjoyed a brief flurry of activity last week as an AGM was held, an updated version of the Corporate Governance Code was published and the NAPF also published its report on the 2014 FTSE350 AGM season. Despite widespread rumours of a shareholder revolt in the national press, both aspects of … Continue Reading
After a quiet couple of weeks, last week two FTSE100 companies released their DRRs, namely Diageo and Sports Direct. Sports Direct’s DRR has been eagerly awaited following recent controversy over its 2015 Bonus Share Plan (see our blog post on its introduction and our blog post on Mike Ashley’s involvement in the plan). The next … 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
