« When shareholders of Canada’s big banks opened their proxy voting forms in early 2008, they found a striking new proposal on the ballot. Submitted by a small ethical mutual fund company, the resolution called on banks to give investors an annual vote on how executive pay was designed. Bank boards initially opposed the motion […]

« A highly standardized process leads to yearly executive pay packages which combine salary, bonuses, stock options, restricted stock grants, performance share units, retirement benefits. The full assemblage will also include formal contracts covering change-of-control situations, termination conditions, etc.  Only the quanta of the compensation package vary from firm to firm. Whenever “long-term” performance objectives […]

[…] « Yvan Allaire, executive chairman of the board of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations, was positive about the plan overall « It’s a giant step in the right direction, » said Allaire, praising the move towards share awards over stock options. Options have fallen out of favor in recent years in part because […]