Swiss executive pay referendum, 2013

The federal popular initiative "against rip-off salaries" of 2013 was a successful popular initiative in Switzerland to control executive pay of companies listed on the stock market, and to increase shareholders' say in corporate governance. It was one of three questions put to the electorate in the March 2013 referendums. The vote took place on the 3 March 2013, and passed with a majority of 67.9%, with a 46% turnout. The initiative mandates the Federal Government to implement the provisions within one year, pending implementation of the final law.

The initiative partly reflected developments in the United States Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act 2010 §957, that banned brokers from voting on their clients' money, and the Stewardship Code 2010 in the United Kingdom, which placed a duty on financial intermediaries to disclose their voting policies and make use of voting power. It also reflected a long running debate in Germany, which had not yet been reformed, about the position of banks. In German, the title of the referendum is the Eidgenössische Volksinitiative «gegen die Abzockerei», literally Against Rip-off and in French, the Initiative populaire «contre les rémunérations abusives», literally against abusive remuneration.

Given the a number of corporate scandals, leading up to the global financial crisis beginning in 2007 a medium-size businessman and politician named Thomas Minder launched a campaign "against rip-off salaries" (gegen die Abzockerei). By 26 February 2008, he had gathered 118,583 signatures to launch a referendum under the Swiss constitutional rules. Minder's concern focused on

Supporters of the initiative spent 200,000 Swiss franc, whilst opponents spent 8 million Swiss francs in their campaign to block the reform. The public campaign drew particular attention to the large payouts for executives of Novartis and major Swiss banks. On 3 March, the referendum results showed that 67.9 per cent of voters supported the reforms.

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