瑞士投票通过高管薪酬限制案

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瑞士投票通过高管薪酬限制案

天之聪教育 2013-04-10 天之聪教育 329次

Fixing the fat cats

修理肥猫

Switzerland votes to curb executive pay

瑞士投票通过高管薪酬限制案

THE question facing Swiss voters on March 3rd was called the “people’s initiative against fat-cat pay”. With a billing like that, who wouldn’t vote yes? As it happened, 68% of the electorate did, passing a measure that requires listed companies to offer shareholders a binding vote on senior managers’ pay and appointments at each annual general meeting. The penalty for bosses who fail to comply is up to three years in jail or the forfeit of up to six years’ salary. Switzerland’s penchant for direct democracy has trumped its tolerance for tycoons.

3月3日，瑞士选民面临的问题是“控制高管薪酬的公民表决提案”。打着这样的旗号，谁会投反对票？果不其然，68%的选民投了赞成票，通过了一项提案，提案规定上市公司要让股东在每年的股东大会上针对高管薪酬和任命拥有具有法律效力的表决权。违反规定的公司老板最高可面临3年的牢狱或相当于6年薪水的罚金。瑞士对直接民主制的追求已超越了对企业大亨的容忍限度。

Swiss business is shaken. It had backed a “counter-initiative” giving shareholders more voting powers without threatening criminal sanction. That was rejected by voters. The new law, which will be written into the constitution, endangers Switzerland as an investment destination, the business lobby claims. Economiesuisse, the Swiss Business Federation, now accepts the popular verdict but warns that such complex and highly charged changes must be implemented carefully. The laws needed to put the vote into practice will take ten years to write, some cynics suggest.

瑞士商业界因此备受震动。此前商业界曾支持一项“反提案”，该提案让股东在不用被追究刑事责任的条件下拥有更大的投票权，但已遭选民否决。商业游说团称，即将写入宪法的新法律会危及瑞士作为理想投资国的地位。瑞士商业联盟Economiesuisse现已接受了民众的意见，但提醒人们进行这种处罚力度如此之大的复杂变革时一定要谨慎。有人怀疑，落实新提案的法律需要十年才能出台。

The initiative is the brainchild of Thomas Minder, who runs his family’s toiletries business. He has apparently never forgiven Swissair for backing out of a contract when it nearly went bankrupt 12 years ago and then awarding its former boss a big pay-off. Mr Minder’s campaign gained momentum last month on news that Novartis, a Swiss drug firm, intended to pay its departing chairman, Daniel Vasella, a severance package of SFr72m ($76m). Mr Vasella later refused the package.

通过的提案是由托马斯明德尔（Thomas Minder）提出的，他同时经营家族的化妆品生意。明德尔显然一直对瑞士航空公司12年前的所作所为耿耿于怀。当年瑞士航空公司在几乎破产时取消了与明德尔公司的合同，却向前任高管支付大笔遣散费。上个月，瑞士一家医药公司Novartis想给即将卸任的董事长丹尼尔魏斯乐（Daniel Vasella）一笔高达7200万瑞士法郎（7600万美元）的离职补偿金（后来他拒绝了这笔遣散费）。这则新闻也壮大了明德尔提案的拉票声势。

After Mr Minder’s victory it will become harder to extend such corporate generosity. Some of the new restrictions seem sensible. Shareholder votes on executive pay, hitherto ad hoc and advisory, will become routine and binding. Pension funds will be required to vote in the interests of their members and make their votes public. Board members will not be permitted to have consulting or other contracts with firms in the same group.

明德尔的提案获得通过后，企业再想这么大手笔就难了。法案中有些新的限制规定看来很合理。例如以下几项。迄今为止股东针对高管薪酬的表决都是临时发起的，属咨询性质，而以后将会变成具有法律效力的例行程序。养老基金投票时须考虑投保人的利益，并公开表决。董事会成员将不得与同一集团内其他公司签订咨询合同或其他合同。

But other provisions are more burdensome. The law will ban incentives that can be useful, such as “golden hellos” and severance packages for board members. It will also bar them from accepting rewards for buying or selling company divisions.

不过其他规定则更加苛刻。新法将禁止“黄金问候”新任高管或向董事会成员支付离职补偿金等有用的激励措施。同时董事会成员也被禁止从收购或出售公司部门中获取报酬。

This may not curb boardroom excess. Unlike pension funds, other managers of bundled investors’ assets will not have to declare how they vote. Electronic voting is supposed to give small shareholders a say, but they can be out-voted.

但这些规定可能无法控制高管薪酬。因为除了养老基金，其它类型的基金的经理不必公开其投票选项。电子投票虽可以保障小股东的发言权，但没准也是杯水车薪。

Swiss business must hope that the law does enough to quell outrage. The country’s Young Socialists are demanding that senior executives’ pay be capped at 12 times that of the lowest-paid worker. That would drive a lot of companies out of Switzerland. The fat cats don’t come just for the skiing.

瑞士商业界肯定希望新法律足以平息愤怒。现在，瑞士青年社会主义党要求高管的薪酬不得高于公司最低工资的12倍。那样一来，许多公司都会被迫撤离瑞士。毕竟，那些“肥猫”到瑞士来，可不只为了滑雪。