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Madrid - Executive pay at Spanish companies will be more closely controlled by shareholders under a new bill presented by the government on Friday.
The issue of top employees' pay has attracted growing attention in a country where many have taken deep salary cuts in order to stay in work and one in four workers are unemployed.
A series of scandals over big redundancy packages for bankers amid a slew of bankruptcies and billions of euros in state rescues of banks fuelled on public anger.
Under the bill, to be sent to parliament for potential amendment, fixed and variable remuneration policies will have to be approved by shareholders at least once every three years, according to a government statement.
Any modification to pay policy decided by the board of a company will also have to get shareholder backing and any variation to individual compensation will have to remain within the approved limits.
Until now, shareholders have been consulted on board members' pay and have had the right to vote, though the ballot has been non-binding.
While an annual report on remuneration will still have to be approved by shareholders, a negative vote would now force the board to submit a new proposal under the new legislation.
The bill, among many other smaller changes aimed at better reflecting the interests of minority shareholders and limiting the possibility of conflicts of interest, also foresees setting a target for the number of women on boards, although it did not specify what that goal should be.
