New Trends in the Regulation of Executive Remuneration

Abstract

This paper, which was first presented as a conference paper at the Annual 2009 Supreme Court of New South Wales Conference in June 2009, considers the impact of the global financial crisis on the regulation of executive pay in a range of common law jurisdictions, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

As the paper shows, the current focus on executive pay reflects the fact that, as a result of the global financial crisis, business once again has "a legitimacy problem." Although opinion is divided about the extent to which executive remuneration practices actually contributed to the global financial crisis, there has nonetheless been an outpouring of regulatory responses to executive pay in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. The paper compares the varying reforms and reform proposals across these jurisdictions, identifying common themes and differences in approach, and considering their implications for future regulation of executive remuneration around the world.

Keywords: Executive Compensation, Remuneration, Shareholders, Directors, Disclosure, Directors’ Duties, Comparative Corporate Governance, Corporate Scandals, Global Financial Crisis, Regulation

JEL Classification: G30, G34, J33, K22, K33, K40, M14, M52, 016