Switzerland’s largest corporations such as Novartis, Credit Suisse, Syngenta AG and UBS back the counter proposal, which omit Minder’s demands for a binding shareholder vote, prison sentences and a sign-on bonus ban. At the same time, the government plan would allow shareholders of individual companies to decide if they want to introduce a binding vote.
Social Cohesion
Economiesuisse’s Vetter said it was necessary to address the concerns of enraged voters.
“It’s more a question about social cohesion,” he said. “We need an answer to the Minder initiative and an answer to the anger of Swiss people about executive salaries.”
Switzerland’s ranking as the world’s most competitive country in the World Economic Forum’s annual index won’t be affected by the vote’s outcome, at least in the short term, because executive pay isn’t part of the overall assessment, said Margareta Drzeniek, who is part of the team that covers Switzerland at the WEF. It may even be a positive in the long term, assuming such a change improves social cohesion, she said.
Novartis’s Jimenez has said voters shouldn’t ignore the negative consequences of Minder’s initiative for some of the country’s biggest employers.
“From a competitive standpoint, it’s very difficult for me as a CEO to hire outside talent if any offer I make is contingent on a shareholder vote,” Jimenez said last month. “I think it puts Novartis or any Swiss company at a competitive disadvantage.”