Partner Article

Business leaders call for remuneration transparency

Business leaders have called for greater transparency for CEO bonuses.

A worldwide survey showed that two thirds of business leaders globally have said that shareholders should have more involvement in the remuneration of Chief Executives, with 66% also commenting that senior executives are paid too much.

The survey carried out as a part of the 4 yearly Grant Thornton International Business Report. It looked at 2,800 businesses in 40 different countries, finding that more than three quarters of those surveyed felt that public companies should make their remuneration policy public, as well as disclosing the bonuses of all directors.

Grant Thornton’s Peter Gomersall commented: “These are turbulent times for senior executives within both public and private businesses. The call for more transparency about the amount and, possibly more importantly, who decides the remuneration of senior executives, is continuing to gain momentum.

“These results clearly shows that there is an increased appetite for shareholders to be involved in the determination of executive remuneration and reward although it is very difficult to predict how this will evolve in practice.”

The survey also found that 80% thought that the roles of CEO and Chairman of the Board should be separated in all companies and not shared by one individual.

These figures come after much discussion of remuneration for big business leaders.

National Express recently awarded its CEO Dean Finch 261, 407 free shares and increased his bonus to 150% of a salary which is already upwards of half a million pounds.

Other companies, however, are considering ways to reform their bonus policies, with HSBC already instigating plans to pay bonuses in shares once an employee has retired.

Barclays are also cleaning up their public reputation by looking at a similar scheme.

Internationally BHP Billington head Marius Kloppers has waived his bonus, which last year amounted to $2.35 million after the value of US shale gas assets were written down by $2.84 billion.

Global attitudes have certainly shown that greater transparency when it comes to bonuses, and these top firms are leading the way to improving the reputation of business executives.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .