Shareholders must approve any bonus worth more than one year's salary.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aUBEYC4zryCc&refer=home<snip>
Under the proposed law, shareholders would need to approve termination payments that exceed one-year’s salary, rather than the current seven-year threshold and curbs on severance pay could be linked to job losses, Swan said. The government’s Productivity Commission will also hold a nine-month inquiry into executive remuneration and bonuses.
Australia’s curbs come after news that underwear maker Pacific Brands Ltd., which last month cut 1,850 jobs, paid former Chief Executive Paul Moore A$5.8 million ($3.9 million) in the year ending June 30, 2008. Hundreds of sacked workers protested and Swan called the payouts “frankly sickening.”
Newspapers including the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Feb. 27 that Telstra Corp. Chief Executive Officer Sol Trujillo would walk away from his stint in Australia with A$40 million in cash and shares when he leaves the post on June 30. In fact, Trujillo will receive a one-time payout of A$3 million upon departure, Telstra said today.
“Shareholders are being given the final say on golden hand shakes because of boards’ chronic failure to act,” Australian Shareholders Association chief executive officer Stuart Wilson said in an e-mailed statement. Still, “before the ink is dry on the legislation there will be an army of lawyers and remuneration consultants looking for ways to avoid it.”
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Is there an American Shareholders Association?
Looks like all it takes to act is a government that represents all its citizens.