Director Compensation in Turbulent Times

My colleagues, Amy Goodman, Gillian McPhee and I have recently published our thoughts on issues to be considered by boards of directors in setting their own compensation. We outline recent trends in compensation practices, particularly since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and discuss issues confronting boards of directors as they review their compensation programs; the issues include: the appropriate forms of cash compensation and equity compensation; the mix between equity and cash components of compensation; the adoption of stock ownership and retention policies; the use of perquisites; and the process for evaluating director compensation. We find that boards of public companies increasingly seek external guidance on these issues, recognizing that, when the board sets its own pay, it is in an unavoidable conflict of interest situation as are the corporate managers overseen by the board.

The memorandum is available here.