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Executive compensation has been an important topic in the investor community for over a decade. Unfortunately, shareholders have gone largely unheard and the issue has been little more than a blip on the radar of corporate America.
May 1 -
Annual meetings held by Citi and Bank of New York Mellon have been shaken by investor dissent over executive pay, and observers anticipate more rebukes in the coming month.
April 20
Bank of America (BAC) shareholders approved the bank's executive-compensation proposal and its full slate of directors at a contentious annual meeting Wednesday.
The meeting in Charlotte, N.C., drew hundreds of protesters and mostly negative comments from shareholders about the bank's foreclosure practices.
Ninety-two percent of the votes cast approved the bank's executive-pay plan and the renomination of all 12 board members, a B of A proxy official said. Investors rejected six other proposals, including one to ban political spending and another to require an independent review of mortgage-servicing practices.
Investors have
Brian Moynihan, B of A's CEO, stayed calm throughout the nearly 90-minute meeting during which he faced angry comments from 25 shareholders.
One shareholder called the bank a "felon," and another told Moynihan that he had engaged in "criminal activity."
Moynihan received total compensation of $8.1 million in 2011, up from $1.9 million in 2010. He received no cash bonus and most of his stock pays only if the company attains certain performance goals. ISS Proxy Advisory Services and Glass Lewis & Co, which advise large shareholders on how to vote at annual meetings, backed B of A's pay plan.
