|
The federal popular initiative "against rip-off salaries" of 2013 was a successful popular initiative in Switzerland to control executive pay of companies listed on the stock market, and to increase shareholders' say in corporate governance. It was one of three questions put to the electorate in the Swiss referendum, 2013. The vote took place on the 3 March 2013, and passed with a majority of 67.9%, with a 46% turnout. The initiative mandates the Federal Government to implement the provisions within one year, pending implementation of the final law. The initiative partly reflected developments in the United States Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act 2010 §957, that banned brokers from voting on their clients' money, and the Stewardship Code 2010 in the United Kingdom, which placed a duty on financial intermediaries to disclose their voting policies and make use of voting power. It also reflected a long running debate in Germany, which had not yet been reformed, about the position of banks.〔See the Geßler Commission (1979)〕 In German, the title of the referendum is the ''Eidgenössische Volksinitiative «gegen die Abzockerei»'', literally ''Against Rip-off'' and in French, the ''Initiative populaire «contre les rémunérations abusives»'', literally ''against abusive remuneration''. ==Background== Given the a number of corporate scandals, leading up to the global financial crisis beginning in 2007 a medium-size businessman and politician named Thomas Minder launched a campaign "against rip-off salaries" (''gegen die Abzockerei''). By 26 February 2008, he had gathered 118,583 signatures to launch a referendum under the Swiss constitutional rules. Minder's concern focused on # the excesses of executive pay # the ability of banks, who in the Swiss (and German) system of shareholding hold all share certificates, to vote by proxy using shares owned by other people, and # the inability of pension beneficiaries and policyholders to determine their deposits were being used for voting. Supporters of the initiative spent 200,000 Swiss franc, whilst opponents spent 8 million Swiss francs in their campaign to block the reform. The public campaign drew particular attention to the large payouts for executives of Novartis and major Swiss banks. On 3 March, the referendum results showed that 67.9 per cent of voters supported the reforms. A German initiative followed a month later, and if passed would represent a significant broadening of pay controls in Europe.〔''(Germany Weighs Pay Curbs; Legislation Would Give Shareholders More Say Over Executive Compensation )'' March 12, 2013 WSJ〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Swiss executive pay referendum, 2013」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|