Ownership Matters commented on the draft bill designed to enhance the disclosure of executive remuneration in Australia, published by Treasury in December 2012.

Submissions to Treasury on the disclosure of executive pay

By Simon Connal

In December 2012, Treasury sought comments on a draft bill designed to enhance the disclosure of executive remuneration in Australia. The bill implements some of the recommendations made by the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee in its 2011 inquiry into executive remuneration in Australia.

Ownership Matters supports the intention of the amendments (to improve disclosure of remuneration outcomes to shareholders) but submitted that the proposed changes introducing the disclosure of ‘actual’ or ‘realised’ pay – through the disclosure of past, present and future remuneration in addition to existing disclosure requirements – can be achieved by building on the existing disclosure framework without imposing new layers of disclosure in addition to the current reporting regime.

In this context, Ownership Matters suggested that the remuneration reporting framework proposed by the UK’s Financial Reporting Lab for reporting ‘actual’ pay be adopted with minimal change to the existing requirements and some amendments to suit local practice.

Specifics of the proposed legislation were then commented upon.

For a copy of these submissions, click on the link below.

OM Submission Treasury Executive Pay 130315