Shareholders deserve more metrics against which they can benchmark CEO pay

UOB chief executive Wee Ee Cheong pipped DBS’ Piyush Gupta for the title of best-paid CEO among the Straits Times Index (STI) constituents last year, according to data recently compiled by The Business Times.

Wee’s total remuneration for FY2023 was S$15.9 million, up 11.9 per cent from S$14.2 million last year. Gupta’s was S$11.2 million, down 27 per cent from S$15.4 million last year.

On the surface, Gupta has taken a huge cut in remuneration. This makes sense because the bank’s services were disrupted several times last year, including one bout lasting over 12 hours.