On Sunday, the ministerial legislation committee will discuss a private member's bill put forward by MK Shelly Yacimovich (Labor) for limiting executive pay.
Most ministers have yet to formulate a position on the bill, but in the light of opposition to such legislation by Prof. Eugene Kandel, head of the National Economic Council in the Prime Minister's Office, and Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz's remarks on the subject, it seems unlikely that the bill will be approved.
Yacimovich can still propose the bill for first reading without government support. MK Haim Katz (Likud), who is also sponsoring the bill, has been mustering support for it among Likud ministers.
"After we saw the executive pay tables, I hope that now it will be possible to pass the law. Even if a company performs brilliantly, the managers cannot take for themselves ad infinitum. Clear, sharp regulation, such as there is for the banks, for example, should apply to the entire capital market, which behaves like a jungle," she told "Globes".
Yacimovich proposes limiting the highest salary in a company to 50 times the lowest salary. The law would apply to all companies, both public and private. Her bill passed first reading in the previous Knesset, but now has to start over again.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 21, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010