Thomas Minder (right), councillor of State and initiator of the ‘Against rip-off’ initiative, poses with members of the committee during the referendum in Schaffhausen yesterday.

ZURICH: Swiss citizens yesterday voted to impose some of the world’s strictest controls on executive pay, forcing public companies to give shareholders a binding vote on compensation, result projections showed.

Claude Longchamp of pollsters Gfs.Bern told Swiss state television early returns in a referendum showed 68 percent backed allowing shareholders to veto executive pay proposals and a ban on big rewards for new and departing managers.

While anger at multi-million dollar payouts for executives has spread around the globe since the financial crisis, Swiss direct democracy — including four national referendums a year — means public outrage can be translated into action.

A few other countries, including the US and Germany, have introduced advisory “say on pay” votes and Britain is also planning to give shareholders a binding vote on pay and “exit payments” at least every three years. Brussels agreed a cap on bankers’ bonuses last week. 

The clear majority in Switzerland was unusual given fierce opposition and intense campaigning by business lobby group Economiesuisse, which warned the proposals would damage the country’s competitiveness and scare away international talent.

Support for the move was driven partly by big bonuses blamed for fuelling risky investments that nearly felled Swiss bank UBS , as well as outrage over a proposed $78m payment to outgoing Novartis chairman Daniel Vasella.

“The clear support for the initiative reflects the understandable anger of the electorate at the self-serving mentality of certain managers,” said a group representing most of the parties in parliament which opposed the plan. “With their misconduct, they have done the economy as a whole a disservice.”

Thomas Minder, the businessman-turned-politician behind the campaign who says his proposals are aimed at ending a culture of short-termism and rewards for managers of badly-run companies, said intense corporate lobbying had backfired.

“This is a clear sign of the distance between the people and the political and business establishment,” he said.

Despite threats from some executives, Switzerland is unlikely to see an exodus of big companies, drawn to the country by low taxes, stable politics and business-friendly laws.

Activist shareholder group Actares welcomed the projected result of the referendum: “Actares is convinced that the electorate has improved Switzerland’s position as a place to do business by strengthening shareholders’ rights.”

Companies will likely seek ways around the new rules to reward executives, just as banks in Europe are looking to soften the impact of a cap on bonuses for top staff agreed by European politicians on Thursday. 

“If a company wants to pay a top executive 25 million, then they will find a way to do so regardless of the initiative,” Rolf Soiron, chairman of cement maker Holcim and drugs industry supplier Lonza said.

Experts also question whether shareholders in Swiss companies will make full use of their new rights. 

Of the top 100 Swiss companies, 49 already give shareholders a non-binding vote on the pay of executives. But while opposition to pay deals is on the rise, a majority of investors have never voted them down.

Swiss companies employed five of the top 10 best-paid chairmen in Europe in 2011, but only the heads of Novartis and Roche made it into the continent’s top 10 for chief executives.

Minder’s initiative forces binding votes on compensation every year as well as on board composition and would also ban bonus payments to managers if their companies are taken over.

Reuters