Directors of Barrick Gold Corp. lost a showdown with shareholders this week for a “tone deaf” response to years of criticism over the lack of connection between executive pay and company performance.
With Barrick stock languishing at its lowest price since the early 1990s, along with the gold price, 75 per cent of shareholders rose up to vote against the company’s “say on pay” resolution at Wednesday’s annual meeting.
It may have amounted to little more than a public embarrassment: chairman John Thornton didn’t give up any pay but pledged to “go back and refine” the compensation system, particularly as it relates to him. But it is just a taste of things to come, say governance experts who have a keen eye on trends in the United States, where regulators released plans this week for prescriptive rules to make companies disclose the relationship between performance and compensation. Read More…
Have we learned notihng from the fiasco that was the 2008 financial crisis?
If i am understanding the say-on-pay thing we voters have a say if our ceo’s are worhty of a boost and if so we as voters can vote on it.
Logical. And baffling why we dont have this option by default.
It’s funny that these supposed professional CEOs feel they need $30m pay packages before they have any reason to get out of bed in the morning. Crazy world.
Scrambling for compensation and there are other important things to worry about in this world. Like family.
Make the execs happy. Pay them for the work they are doing. I see nothig wrong. When we start meddling with business we see issues on the bottom line. Leave them alone.
Ahh yes, the 1% strikes back. Protest on Wallstreet had no effect.
Say-on-pay votes are mandatory. Why, as an investor, would i want half the income to go into the pocket of a few at top?
It’s really quite sad that Canada is becoming more like the States every day 🙁