Investors fail to challenge CEO pay
Large shareholders have had the right to challenge executive remuneration in the UK since 2013, but research shows that no pay policies in FTSE 100 companies have been defeated by investor votes since the law was introduced.
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Back in 2012 the UK was in the grip of a debate about executive pay. The coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were determined to do something about it. Indeed, by 2013 UK shareholders had received powers to vent their frustrations over pay levels through “say on pay” measures in the Regulatory Reform Act.
According to The Times, company chairs fumed over the new law: “Giving outsiders a say on pay would be the last straw,” wrote one opinion writer. In the Financial Times meanwhile, another writer suggested pay was ripe for reform because “large shareholders have at last started to flex their muscles over sp