Directors' liability discharge proposals - report published

Manifest, in conjunction with Morley Fund Management, has published a report titled "Directors' liability discharge proposals: the implications for shareholders". The report, to quote directly from it: 

.... addresses what for many investors has been a largely obscure issue, namely proposals to discharge directors of liabilities that routinely appear on shareholder meetings’ agendas in many European markets. We look at 13 European markets that have resolutions of this type – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland; their legal basis and practical implications for shareholders in the voting context".

Switzerland: executive remuneration survey published

Ethos, the Swiss Foundation for Sustainable Development, has published its 2009 survey of executive remuneration at the 49 largest Swiss listed companies: see here. The survey found:

In 2009, the aggregate remuneration of the members of the board of directors and of the executive management of the 49 companies included in Ethos' study increased by 21% to CHF 1.27 billion. While the increase was 73% in the financial sector, it was just 2% in the other sectors. On average, each member of the executive management received CHF 3 million in 2009. The Chairmen of the board were paid CHF 1.9 million on average while the other non executive directors CHF 300'000".

Switzerland: minimum standards for remuneration schemes of financial institutions

Last year a post on this blog noted that the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) had published a consultation paper concerning a new framework for remuneration schemes within financial firms. To bring this up to date: in November 2009, FINMA published Circular 2010/1: Remuneration Schemes - Minimum standards for remuneration schemes of financial institutions, available here (pdf). Further information is available here.

Switzerland: 'say on pay' vote adopted by Zurich Financial Services and Swiss Re

Ethos has reported that two companies - Zurich Financial Services and Swiss Re - have agreed to provide shareholders with an advisory vote in respect of the remuneration report at their annual general meetings this year. Ethos notes that eight of the twenty companies in the Swiss Market Index (SMI) now provide such a vote.