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 Last year Britain tightened rules on how companies decide directors'
pay, including requiring businesses to detail what was paid to each
director and giving shareholders a vote on remuneration policy at
least every three years.
Between 1998 and 2010, average pay for chief executives rose 13
percent each year, despite no overall increase in the FTSE100
<.FTSE> blue chip share index over that time, according to the
Business Department.
In the "shareholder spring" of 2012, investors mounted several
high-profile challenges to executive pay packages, frustrated at
boardroom salaries rising when share prices were declining. Some
high-profile bosses, such as Andrew Moss at insurer Aviva Plc <AV.L>
and Sly Bailey of British newspaper group Trinity Mirror, stood
down.
In a speech to remuneration committee chairs on Wednesday, Cable
will say that while some have set about restoring a link between pay
and performance following the government's reforms, others are
observing the letter of the law but not the spirit.
"If companies and investors are unable or unwilling to act
responsibly, the pressure for stronger measures will be hard to
ignore," he will say, according to extracts of his speech released
in advance.
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"Under such circumstances, I would consider options including
stricter regulatory oversight of pay reports and policies, a
requirement on shareholders to disclose how they have voted on pay,
or a requirement to consult employees on pay."
Cable will also say he plans to write to remuneration committee
chairs to ask them to fully observe the spirit of the government's
reforms and that he will take stock of the situation after the
current voting season.
"This is the time for companies, and investors, to show they can act
responsibly," he will say.
(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Ruth Pitchford)
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