NYSE shareholders irked over executive pay

During its annual general meeting on Friday, NYSE Euronext secured the approval of 56.5% of shareholders for its 2011 executive pay policy.

However, a significant proportion of shareholders voted against the exchange operator’s remuneration plan (43%), underscoring the growing trend of investor unrest over executive compensation. Only 0.5% of shareholders abstained.

The “say on pay” vote, adopted last year by shareholders, is non-binding. Groups such as Citigroup, KB Home and Barclays in the UK have also faced increased investor discontent on the issue of executive pay.

Over the last year, some financial executives have seen their pay decrease. The CEO of RBC received a pay cut of 8% in 2011, and the heads of capital markets for RBC had their pay slashed by 20%. Additionally, executives at Credit Suisse had their 2011 pay disclosed publicly and received massive pay cuts across the group as a whole.

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