Executive Compensation in the Aftermath of the Crisis

The increasing amounts of money paid out in compensation to corporate executives have become the subject of a heated public policy debate on both sides of the Atlantic in the midst of the crisis.

The magnitude of these sums, as well as the timing of payments relative to evidence of corporate success or - more notably, failure - have surprised and, in many cases, angered employees, shareholders and politicians, and drawn considerable attention in the media. Are executives in many firms particularly in the financial industry exploiting their power to benefit themselves at the expense of other stakeholders or is the level of compensation the result of an effective market mechanism?

In its meeting in Luxembourg on the 7th of October, the Council agrees that "in view of the developments regarding executive pay in the last years, the effectiveness of some existing provisions warrant further examination and possibly policy at the national level, taking into account the different regulatory frameworks in Member States".

Against this background, CEPS and the European Capital Markets Institute (ECMI) organized a workshop on executive compensation in the midst of the crisis on December 11, 2008 in Brussels. Participants met and discussed with policy makers, human resources experts, industry representatives and some of the contributors to the recently published book Markets and Compensation for Executives in Europe (Emerald Publishing, October 2008).

The workshop took place from 10.00 to 17.00 at Club de Warande, 1 Rue Zinner, 1000 Brussels.

Click here to download the programme.