Originally published February 19 2006
Lifestyles of executives will soon be made public by SEC
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The SEC has announced that it will now require companies to fully disclose the perks enjoyed by its executives.
THE days when a hard-working chief executive could spend his time off at the company flat with the corporate jet idling on a nearby runway may be numbered.
The SEC is expected to unveil the proposed rules, which will govern disclosure of executive pay, bonuses and perks, at a meeting on Wednesday.
The proposed rules have been under discussion for the past three months and, if adopted, will represent the biggest change in American executive pay rules in more than a decade.
Executive pay, bonuses, pensions and healthcare benefits are disclosed already in quarterly and annual reports by listed companies, but the proposed rules will ask companies to quantify and record the value of executive perks valued at $US10,000 ($13,000) or more.
The list could include such diverse benefits as company-provided tax consultants, private offices away from headquarters, private jets, company cars, chauffeurs, club memberships and all manner of other trappings of the executive lifestyle.
Under the proposed new rules, the value of such perks would be quantified and added to a director's salary and other bonuses to provide a total of compensation for the year.
Investors and other stakeholders have seized on revelations of alleged executive excesses at companies as diverse as the New York Stock Exchange, Tyco and Hollinger.
It was revealed that he had used company cash to refurbish New York apartments and received tax-free loans from Tyco to cover dubious expenses.
David Chavern, vice-president of the US Chamber of Commerce, said the business lobby group would welcome full disclosure but hoped that it would not lead to "back-door regulation".
"Comparing what executives at different companies are paid for performing different tasks is a very complicated thing to do," Mr Chavern said.
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