Shareholders reject executive-pay vote

Proposals voted on at Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley that would let investors weigh in every year with a non-binding vote on pay got an average of just 37% of shareholder votes, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Similar proposals in last year’s proxy statements for the same New York companies got 43% support. Explanations for the lax attitude toward executive compensation have ranged from investor fixation on the blowups that have destroyed 44% of the seven companies' total market value to reluctance to meddle with how pay and perks are doled out on Wall Street, the report stated. Despite the losses at seven major financial companies of about $364 billion in stock market value since their prices reached record highs in 2006 and 2007, some shareholders worry that major pay changes could cause top producers to defect. Between 2004 and 2007, top executives at Citigroup, The Bear Stearns Cos. Inc., The Goldman Sachs Group. Inc., JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Morgan Stanley, all of New York, got about $3.63 billion in salary, bonuses, stock grants and exercised options, according to figures disclosed for executives that were named in proxy filings and compiled by New York-based Standard & Poor’s, the report stated.