Parliament to force disclosure of top corporate pay
Parliament has called for new laws compelling companies to disclose the pay of top managers.
The House of Representatives also came out in favour of amending the code of obligations so that companies listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange would be obliged to reveal details of all remuneration to board members, including bonuses and perks.
The House said it was important to demonstrate the willingness of politicians to take action. The moves come in wake of a series of revelations in the past few months over huge retirement benefits and pay offs to company executives and board members.
Both the centre-left Social Democratic Party and the right-wing Swiss People’s Party supported the proposal, which was passed with 105 to 49 votes.
Following the House’s decision on Monday a committee will now draft amendments to the code of obligations to be debated in parliament at a later stage.
Pending approval by the Senate, the government, for its part, will have to present proposals to extend transparency rules to all top management of listed firms and state-run companies.
Public outrage
Recent revelations about pension payments to board members and salaries of top managers have sparked a public outcry in Switzerland.
The most spectacular case involved the Swiss-Swedish engineering company, ABB, which paid out SFr230 million ($137 million) in retirement benefits to two former chief executives. They said on Sunday they would be returning some of the money.
Other firms, including the Zurich Financial Services group, as well as the collapsed national airline, Swissair, and the leading tour operator, Kuoni, have also come in for criticism.
Self-regulation
The Swiss Business Federation, economiesuisse, and the Swiss Stock Exchange, SWX, have already announced plans to improve transparency and openness about remuneration to board members and top management.
Both organisations discussed a restructured draft of the Corporate Governance Directive, according to a joint statement published last week. They expect the paper to be approved next month.
The new directive would bring Switzerland into line with European Union rules, according to the statement. But analysts say Swiss firms remain more secretive than their counterparts in many other countries, including the United States.
by Urs Geiser
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