Corporate Governance

The Arrival of Say on Pay (Part 2)

By J Robert Brown Jr.

What has been the experiences in other countries with say on pay? 

Great Britain has had in place say on pay since 2002.  In 2003, shareholders voted down the pay package for Jean-Pierre Garnier, the chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline.  Things remained uneventful until the financial crisis in 2009.  In April 2009, shareholders rejected the remuneration report for the Royal Bank of Scotland.  At least four other companies say their report voted down in 2009, including Royal Dutch Shell. 

In other words, the authority was largely dormant until shareholder anger boiled over during the current financial crisis. 

Full post as published by The Race to the Bottom on May 17, 2010 (boomark / email).