Intel has joined some 16 other U.S. companies to adopt a shareholder proposal allowing say on executive compensation.
As worldwide anger over the global financial crisis spreads, Global Proxy Watch reports that a number of companies are embracing a defensivetactic: annual shareowner votes on executive pay.
Credit-Suisse and Nestlé agreed to so-called‘say on pay’ measures following UBS’s lead in November. Theyresponded to a shareowner campaign by Swiss governancefund Ethos. Only ABB and Novartis are holdouts among the fivecompanies Ethos targeted.
In the U.S., both Intel and OccidentalPetroleum responded this week to similar pressures by adopting anannual shareowner vote. So far, a total of 16 U.S. companies havetaken this route. Occidental went a step further by supporting say on paylegislation in Congress.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced support forlegislation, too. But it delayed adopting an annual vote. Instead, HPsaid it would submit a resolution on the issue to shareowners nextyear, meaning the earliest investors would gain a ballot on pay wouldbe 2011, if the measure passes.
The ‘say on pay’ campaign, led byWalden Asset Management and AFSCME, says shareowner havefiled more than 100 resolutions on the issue at 2009 U.S. AGMs.
