Attorney Authored
Executive Pay and Loyalty: From Velvet Glove to Iron Fist
January 11, 2010
Mark Poerio
Outrage over executive compensation has fueledand promises to inflamea global finger pointing at boards of directors.
How could you have approved such outrageous incentives?
Where is the correlation of pay to corporate performance?
Why are we providing rich exit packages to those who have failed, or who have already accumulated vast wealth from us?
The past several years have seen calls for accountabilityand independencecome globally, from shareholders, regulators, industry groups, the US Congress and the G-20. Expectations have emerged for consistent principles. These include basing executive compensation on long-term corporate goals and objectives, weighing the risk that variable incentives will encourage, and positioning to claw back or recover ill-gotten gains.