Pay increases should gbe linked to improvements in service delivery to Australian taxpayers, writes Chris Seage, tax consultant and former ATO audit manager writes:
Executive salaries
Hun comments reveal: News Corp 4th worst performer in ASX50
The short-term performance of News Corp might look OK, but a longer-term horizon tells a very different story.
Exec pay: heads executives win, tails shareholders lose
With executive pay season well and truly upon us, well-healed boards continue to adopt a convenient, “heads executives win, tails shareholders lose” approach to remuneration.
Argus and Crawford rail against basic accountability
One of the biggest problems with Australia’s corporate governance over the past few decades has been the way a clubby network of powerful Melbourne-based directors have worked against the basic principle of accountability for poor performance.
Bartholomeusz: executive pay report on the money
If the government was expecting a blueprint for influencing/constraining executive remuneration, and incentive payments in particular, it would have been disappointed.
Essential Research: Mandate for Labor on health, refugees
Voters are standing behind Labor on refugee policy and health reform as leaders nut out a deal in Canberra today, with new Essential Research polling giving the government a strong mandate on both key issues.
Pay of top-100 CEOs rises twice as fast as salary of ordinary workers
From 1993 to 2009, the pay of top 100 CEOs in Australia rose twice as fast as the salary of ordinary workers, writes Andrew Leigh.
The rise of proxy advisers sparks interesting debate
The notion that boards have no incentive to overpay executives or that remuneration consultants are “independent” makes Alice in Wonderland look like a piece of non-fiction.
rumour 
Goldman Sachs CEO’s $100 million pay-day
Word from the World Economic Forum is that Goldman Sachs is planning to pay its CEO Lloyd Blankfein a $100 million bonus, despite Barack Obama’s recent stern rebuke over bailed-out banks and big bonuses.
Executive pay: gravy train still stopping all stations
Until company directors start to realise that money doesn’t necessarily buy quality executives, don’t expect the gravy train to dry up any time soon.
Goldman Sachs still the golden option
Despite Goldman Sachs’ reputation as the bad boy of Wall Street, MBA grads are still heading there in droves. Is it the hope of multi-million dollar bonuses or something else?
Are the Greens just greedy capitalists, too?
The leader of the Greens in the ACT Legislative Assembly, Meredith Hunter, wants a salary increase of $50,000 to “cover new Assembly workload”. Isn’t it a little hypocritical after all the party’s noise about executive salaries and corporate greed? asks Samuel J.
Goldman finally turns (slightly) scrooge on bonuses
After much flack for their exorbitant executive remuneration, this Christmas the top 30 Goldman Sachs execs will be receiving their bonuses in stocks that cannot be sold for five years, not cash.
No sympathy for British wankers … err bankers
British bankers are upset at having their bonuses taxed a year after many were rescued by taxpayer money from the biggest financial mess they had helped create in decades. Who would ever have thought that?
CEOs: numbers up on when their number’s up
While Australian boards are to be lauded for acting quickly to remove poorly performing CEOs, those same boards are also wantonly handing out shareholder monies to failed executives who retire, rather than are terminated.
Mirvac slammed over surge in directors fees
Small securityholders threw the kitchen sink at Mirvac yesterday over the poor performance, and the move to boost directors’ fees for a second time in as many years.
Bank exec bonuses helped by Rudd’s rules
Kevin Rudd may publicly deride extreme capitalism — but, fortunately for our bankers, the Federal Government’s policies appear to be aiding and abetting it.
Long-term incentive plan angers Computershare shareholders
Yesterday, it was the turn of share registry Computershare to feel the brunt of shareholder anger, with its plan to grant 1.4 million options to selected executives supported by only 38% of proxy votes received.
Corporate governance: wild west may finally be getting tamed
Investors are continuing to vent their anger at executives and directors’ salaries, with shareholders in mining company Western Areas last week revolting over lucrative remuneration arrangements granted to directors.
A look behind the detour of Transurban
Transurban is destined to join the worldwide queue of over-valued toll roads mired in debt and based on misleading financial models, writes John Goldberg.
Shareholders strike again at Transurban execs
Australian shareholders are revolting as company directors (and their hired help) design long-term incentive packages that continue to unjustly enrich executives.
New rules for bailed-out bankers revealed
The US Treasury and Federal Reserve have announced their new rules on executive pay at big and bailed-out banks: many will have their salaries capped at $500,000, total compensation will be cut by 50%, and cash guarantees will be restructured as stock.
graph pr0n 
Wall St wages vs. Average wages
A disturbing chart tracks the average tracking the average Wall St bonus against the average American wage since 1985. And despite the GFC, they’re on the rise again. No wonder bankers are feasting on $43 steaks.
Goldman Sachs: “Pay inequality benefits all!” Errr…
A Goldman Sachs adviser has lauded Wall St execs receiving huge paychecks and bonuses as “a way to achieve greater prosperity and opportunity for all.”
