BERLIN (AP) — Swiss voters voiced their anger at perceived corporate excesses Sunday by approving measures to boost shareholders' say on executive pay.
Some 68 percent of voters backed the "Rip-Off Initiative," with 32 against, according to projections by Swiss public television station SRF.
The outcome of the referendum was considered a foregone conclusion after opinion polls in recent months showed strong public support for the initiative. News that the outgoing board chairman of Swiss drug maker Novartis AG, Daniel Vasella, was due to receive a leaving package worth 72 million Swiss francs ($77 million) fired up public sentiment against "fat cat" bosses.
Swiss lawmakers will now have to draft a law giving shareholders the right to hold a binding vote on all compensation for company executives and directors. The law will also ban "golden hellos" and "goodbyes" — one-off bonuses that senior managers sometimes receive when joining or leaving a company.
It also promotes greater corporate transparency, for example by requiring that all loans to executives be declared to shareholders.