The Swiss are ready to put fat cats on a diet

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) The Swiss vote today on whether to give shareholders some of the world’s strongest powers to determine the pay of top executives. Approval looks probable.

Nearly two thirds of voters plan to back the so-called anti-fat cat initiative in the referendum that would allow a binding annual shareholder vote on executive compensation for listed companies and block big payouts for new hires and for managers when they leave. Executives who break the rules could face fines and jail.

Voting will end at noon local time and results are expected later today. Most Swiss will have cast their ballots by mail.

Governments across Europe are considering limits to manager compensation after using taxpayer money to aid banks and corporations during the financial crisis. If successful, the measure would make Swiss shareholders among the most powerful in determining the bosses’ paychecks, among them Novartis (NOVN) AG Chief Executive Officer Joe Jimenez and Nestle SA (NESN) CEO Paul Bulcke. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-02/swiss-go-to-polls-on-fat-cat-pay-as-approval-probable.html

[Warpy]

1. Oh, PLEASE let this one spread

Those proxy vote thingies I get every year never allow shareholders to object on anything worthwhile. Those jokers would have been chopped down to size if we had ever been consulted.

[dhol82]

2. wonder if

Wonder if the rest of Europe will go along with this? Where will they go afterward?

It will be interesting to see where this goes. Will muti-national companies now be forced to operate out of the Cayman Islands?

[Buns_of_Fire]

3. I don't think it'd change much of anything.

Nestle SA, for example, has over 3,000,000,000 shares outstanding (ref: http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NESN.VX ). Joe Shareholder and his equally-ticked-off friends aren't the ones holding the majority of those stocks -- most are held by other companies and investment firms, and one fat cat washes another (look up the term "interlocking directorate&quot .