Quids in

Governance gurus over at Diligent have confirmed what others have pointed to: FTSE 100 CEO pay is on the rise.

In fact, the top 100 CEOs have seen a median rise of around 10%, to £4.3m. However, the figures show this is behind Germany’s DAX at €5.9m and France’s CAC 40 at €5.4m.

Rising pay levels are a global phenomenon. “Both granted and realised CEO pay are on the rise across all major indices,” Diligent writes. Guess whose Christmas will be full of wonder and joy?

Not counting the money

Over in the Brussels, the great omnibus project to revise sustainability reporting rules grinds on.

Close observers will know that what this essentially means is EU functionaries trying to soften the blow of legislation such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) or the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

The Oxford Business Law Blog draws attention to one big question: should the finance services sector have an opt-out from CSDDD.

“The question remains,” write Hadar Yoana Jabotinsky and Roee Sarel, “can the EU achieve its sustainability objectives while leaving one of the economy’s most influential sectors largely unregulated?

“The answer may determine not only the future of European sustainability policy, but the global trajectory of corporate accountability in an interconnected world.” No pressure there, then.

Arid landscape

But at least the EU is working on it. Over in the US, mandatory sustainability reporting has become a lifeless husk on the bottom of a bone-dry riverbed.

Under President Biden, watchdogs at the Securities and Exchange Commission had been working on a set of mandatory climate risk reporting rules. But work on the regs ended under the Trump presidency.

Legal eagles at Mayer Brown note a big difference between the US and, well, the rest of the world. “While climate-related risk and emissions disclosure requirements continue to advance on the state and international levels, the future of the SEC’s climate-related risk disclosure rules remain uncertain and, at least under the current Commission, unlikely to move forward.” Not to be braggadocious, but there is a saying: If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward.

Active for the time of year

Globally, shareholder activists are upping their activity, according to Barclays, with 191 campaigns in the first three quarters of 2025, the most ever recorded for the period and up 19% on the average.

The numbers put this year on course to break records (249 in 2018) though, it has to be said, the figures are driven by activity in the US.

There is another record at stake, too: CEO departures following activist demands. There have been 25 already this year, across major markets, close to last year’s record of 27.

A glance at Barclays’ figures shows that European boardrooms (including the UK) can relax a little, because activity in the region looks as if it is continuing to fall from the 2023 high of 65 campaigns for this time of the year.

Jim Rossman, global head of shareholder advisory at Barclays, says: “New developments are reshaping how companies engage with shareholder activists and navigate activist campaigns, including complexities in stewardship, proxy advice and retail investor participation.”

That may be so, but US boards will be biting their nails while Europeans will be ordering more Bordeaux. Santé!