France May Make Shareholder Votes on Executive Pay Binding

France may make shareholder votes on executive pay binding if a guideline to follow their recommendations is ignored by company boards, President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday. A council on corporate governance, comprising executives from big firms and representatives of the Medef employers association, is reviewing a decision last month by Renault’s board to defy shareholder rejection of the chief executive’s 7.2 million euro (5.6 million pounds) payout for 2015. “I’ve been told there is a code of good conduct. If it’s not applied there will be consequences,” Hollande said on Europe 1 radio. “If this council does not react firmly, the first decision will be to make general (shareholder) assembly decisions binding.”