On June 20, 2012, the U.K. Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable announced a package of proposals following the U.K. government’s publication of a consultation paper in March and a consultation period that ended in April. The proposed measures, intended to curb executive pay, include:

• a binding shareholder vote on the company’s policy regarding compensation (including “exit payments”) of directors, including executive directors;
• continuing the annual advisory shareholder vote on how the company’s pay policy was implemented in the previous year;
• enhanced compensation disclosure, including disclosure of a “single figure” for the total pay that directors received for the previous year; and
• consultation by the Financial Reporting Council regarding proposed changes to the U.K. Corporate Governance Code, which is applicable to all companies with a Premium Listing of equity shares in the U.K.

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