Australia: directors' remuneration - Productivity Commission publishes issues paper

Last month the Australian Government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a review of the regulation of executive and director remuneration. Earlier this month the Commission published an issues paper in which it asked questions falling within the following five areas:

• Trends in director and executive remuneration in Australia and internationally
• The effectiveness of the existing framework for the oversight, accountability and  transparency of director and executive remuneration practices
• The role of institutional and retail shareholders in the development, setting, reporting and consideration of remuneration practices
• Any mechanisms that would better align the interests of boards and executives with those of shareholders and the wider community
• The effectiveness of the international responses to remuneration issues arising from the global financial crisis

The issues paper briefly refers to some academic research but its main purpose is to provide a framework for the Commission's more detailed future analysis. The Commission will be working quickly: a draft report is scheduled for publication in September and its final report will be available by the year's end.