The Advisors' Blog

– Broc Romanek, CompensationStandards.com

Below is something recently blogged by Linda Rappaport of Shearman & Sterling:

Our “8th Annual Survey of Selected Corporate Governance Practices of the Largest US Public Companies” reflects a year of consolidation, rather than innovation, in compensation disclosure by the largest US public companies. The proxy statements of the Top 100 Companies continue many of the trends noted in prior years: enhanced attention to the risk profile of compensation strategies; more companies adopting clawback policies; increased acceptance of shareholder say-on-pay votes; and increased use of independent compensation consultants.

Few proxy statements report new compensation strategies or novel approaches to compensation disclosure. One possible reason for the relative stability in compensation practice and disclosure was the absence of significant new legislation during the period covered by this Survey. Companies were not required to assimilate and react to anything nearly as dramatic as the legislation implementing the TARP of the prior year.