An Australian government-backed report into executive pay and bonuses, ordered after the global financial meltdown, has shied away from curbs on top-end salaries criticized as “obscene” by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
The Productivity Commission, an independent research and advisory body to the Australian government on economic and social issues, proposed handing more control of directors’ salaries to shareholders, but stopped short of recommending pay caps.
“We think actually we’ve strengthened that recommendation in a way that makes it more targeted on the companies where shareholders are feeling unhappy with recalcitrant boards ... without having significant unintended consequences,” commission chairman Gary Banks said after the report’s release yesterday.
INQUIRY
The center-left government commissioned the inquiry in March last year.
The move mirrors others in countries such as the US where bank executive pay has become a political hot potato in the wake of the financial crisis. The US has appointed a “pay czar” to look into salaries at banks rescued by government money.
Rudd faces re-election later this year and although riding high in polls, any perception among voters that he has backpeddled on a promise to rein in executive pay excess could hurt the popularity of his Labor government among workers.
Rudd in late 2008 called for an end to the era of “extreme capitalism” and criticized the “triumph of greed over integrity,” demanding action by leaders of the G20 rich nations.
“The government understands fully the community’s concerns about excessive executive pay that rewards reckless risk taking,” Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said of the commission report.
The report called for greater transparency and barriers against conflicts of interest, including banning listed company executives from sitting on remuneration committees.
It also rejected a key “two-strikes” rule outlined in an earlier draft that would have forced boards to face immediate re-election if two consecutive shareholder votes secured 25 percent or more against current salary levels.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last