Tempering CEO pay will help build a stronger local bourse

THE chief executive officer (CEO) of a listed group has a tough job. He/she needs to motivate a large number of staff, win the confidence of investors, manage relationships with customers and suppliers, build the company’s brand, find growth opportunities, manage risks, deal with regulatory issues, travel extensively and so forth.

Today’s CEO also has to handle threats and opportunities posed by digitalisation, climate change, artificial intelligence and geopolitics, among other global forces.

But some CEOs are richly compensated. The CEOs of the local banking trio of DBS , OCBC and UOB , for example, received remuneration of between S$11.2 million and S$15.9 million for the financial year ended last Dec 31(FY 2023).