It is a very exclusive Club. Yesterday, the third member joined: Tidjane Thiam . With an increase of 30 percent in the references, he is the third chief of a Swiss-listed group, whose annual salary exceeds the threshold of 10 million Swiss francs. A total of 12.7 million francs to get to Tidjane Thiam for the past year.
The wage plus the CS-chief of the wage debate, a new journey. Because the CS-shareholders have lost in the past year, 37 per cent, adds up to the price development and the dividend. In the case of UBS , the Minus amounted to 29 percent.
The calls now also the bourgeois politicians on the Plan. “This Manager wages are a slap in the face of the Swiss people, which has accepted the rip-off initiative”, says, for example, the SVP-Nationalrat Adrian Amstutz. “At that time, it has been claimed in the corporations, you have recognized the Problem. Nothing happened”, writes the former group chief.
CS-in-chief Tidjane Thiam is to receive an annual salary of 12.7 million Swiss francs. Photo: Elisabeth Real (Keystone)
No understanding Publica, the Federal pension Fund. “We reject at the annual General meetings in principle, all remuneration in excess of 10 million Swiss francs,” says Patrick Uelfeti, Deputy head of asset management at Publica. In the discussions with the group managers, the topic of wages is a slow-burner – which seems to fall on deaf ears. According to Uelfeti Publica 51 per cent of the remuneration rejects reports.
Minder Initiative fizzles
After the adoption of the rip-off initiative in the year 2013 it had become, for a time, quiet in the debate about managers ‘ salaries. Since then, the shareholders must vote on the General meeting of shareholders on the amount of remuneration in advance. Retrospectively, most of the companies grant you a consultative vote on the remuneration report, which shareholders use most likely for critical Votes, such as ABB, Novartis or the CS in 2017.
However, a dampening effect on salaries has not had the Initiative. In the past year, the Salaries of the heads of the 100 largest Swiss companies have risen, has identified the consulting firm Hostettler and Company.
According to the CVP-Ständerat Pirmin Bishop, the Initiative has a negative effect. “Now we have high wage transparency, and leveling up. It happened the opposite of what was intended by the founders.”
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With an increase of 30 percent Thiams salary obenaus swings. The remuneration of the UBS chief Sergio p. Ermotti of around 14 million Swiss francs higher, but they have fallen year-on-year.
The CS keeps the comparison of wage growth to the development of the share price in the year 2018 to be misleading. “For the year 2018, the remuneration Committee considered the performance of the year, but the achievement of the goal of the three-year restructuring plan,” explains Kai Nargolwala, Chairman of the remuneration Committee, the high increases.
“The remuneration should be linked to the added value for the shareholders. This is not the case of the big banks,” complained Adriano Lucatelli, co-founder and managing Director of asset management, Descartes Finance. “It is not clear how the Bonus depends on the performance together,” said Christophe Volonté, head of Corporate Governance at proxy advisors Inrate.
Swiss professional investors with the levels of Pay have long been a thorn in the eye. However, their influence is too low to force a Change.
“The fact that the remuneration reports at the General meetings of shareholders may be made by, with the rising Power of passive investing for investors,” says asset Manager Lucatelli. He speaks to the U.S. giants such as Blackrock and Vanguard, thanks to the proliferation of index funds to the most powerful shareholders.
New 1:12 Initiative?
Blackrock is contrary to the criticism: The US giant is set for a remuneration policy and reward the Management for Achieving sustainable yields, said a spokesman. He referred to the voting statistics of the last season, according to Blackrock continental Europe voted in a third of all cases against the remuneration reports.
Whether the new wage debate will have political consequences, is uncertain. SP national councillor Cédric Wermuth complained of a “system failure”. Therefore, he thought, to launch the 1:12 Initiative, which may not be the highest wage than twelve times the lowest, again, “to force these people to stop. We will discuss it, sure,” says Wermuth.
(editing Tamedia)
Created: 22.03.2019, 23:10 PM
