PAY PROTEST

Shareholder protests over C-suite pay has become a more common thing of late. For example, last week, about one-third of shareholders at Goldman Sachs & Co. cast a vote against top management compensation proposals.
The key gripe was the exclusion of a multibillion legal fine relating to mis-selling MBS was excluded from the bonus pools calculations. This is on the back of recent moves by shareholders of DB, Citi and car maker Renault to also moderate C-Suite pay plans. I will not today comment on the particulars of the compensation proposals at hand. However, I am I pretty sure if C-Suite execs benefited in the past from previously booked profits which were subsequently eroded by subsequent legal actions (and I am not saying this is the case above), then it would seem out of tune to get friction costs excluded now for later year bonus pools.  Shareholders also want to see greater transparency on pay plans, especially from European lenders. As one big shareholder recently was quoted in the FT: "...there is a lack of transparency in regard to the criteria, key figures and goals linked to them,”