City Figures Back Plans for Tougher Scrutiny of Executive Pay

Mr Woodford said: “I believe the initiatives in this paper represent important steps towards cultivating a more appropriate and valuable form of corporate governance in the UK”. Lord Myners added: “Chris Philp has produced a provocative agenda to rectify the weakness at the core of modern corporate ownership. His proposals are well thought through and carefully argued.” The shareholder committee would consist of the top five shareholders and an employee representative. Mr Philp proposes that the chairman and the employee should attend as non-voting members. The committee would exercise three powers: to ratify the pay policy and pay packages by the remuneration committee; to pose questions to the board on corporate strategy and performance; and to replace the nominations committee in recommending the appointment and removal of directors to the annual shareholder meeting, making them more directly accountable to investors. Mr Philp, Conservative MP for Croydon South, said: “Large listed companies have become what Lord Myners refers to as ‘ownerless corporations’. Shareholdings have become highly fragmented and fund managers are often focused on the short term, which means shareholders often fail to exercise proper oversight of the companies they own.”