A question of pay

THE compensation of top executives has often come in for scrutiny and with it, the role of the board and shareholders in determining such pay.

In a Business Times report on Sept 10, 2013, the total remuneration of the top five chief executives in Singapore was found to be more than $44 million, an average of $8.8 million per CEO. In contrast, these five listed companies have a total of 38 other non-executive directors whose combined directors' fees approved at annual general meetings was under $7 million, or an average of about $180,000 per director.

It may appear ironic that the relatively small sums of the non-executive directors' fees are subject to shareholder approval at each AGM, while the much larger sums paid to the CEOs are not. In reality, executive compensation is determined by the non-executive directors forming the Remuneration Committee of the listed company.